Salvador Perez’s injury ‘takes the air out’ of dugout following record tying homer
Update (2:35 p.m. Thursday): Salvador Perez is in starting lineup for Thursday night’s game at DH.
An inning after Salvador Perez launched his franchise record tying home run Wednesday night, the celebratory mood in the Kansas City Royals dugout turned to concern.
After hitting home run No. 48 in the first inning, tying Jorge Soler’s single-season team record set in 2019, Perez had to be helped up by teammates in the dugout as he hurt his ankle coming off the field at the end of the second inning.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Perez said after the Royals’ 10-5 victory over Cleveland at Kauffman Stadium. “I missed the last step on the stairs down to the dugout and I turned my ankle. We’re going to see how it goes tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens.”
Perez did bat in the second inning when his spot in the lineup came up. He struck out to end the inning, and backup catcher Cam Gallagher took over behind the plate at the start of the third inning.
“I saw him grimacing and I saw Nick [Kenney], our trainer, holding his leg,” Royals All-Star second baseman Whit Merrifield said. “I thought his leg was cramping up. It was a muggy night, so I thought it was a cramp. Then somebody told me what happened, and it kind of takes the air out ... Especially when he’s doing something that special. It definitely took the air out of the dugout, no denying it.”
After he came out of the game, Perez went back into the clubhouse and training room to get evaluated. The elation and excitement of him tying that franchise record quickly gave way to a feeling of uncertainty and worry among his teammates and the coaching staff.
“I’m still kind of getting over that, to be honest,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said after the game. “You see that guy go down after all this just happened. You could see how much he means to our club. I can’t think of many times all season, but there was a mood in that dugout that was atypical. ...Yeah, the guys were concerned. You talk about a guy being the heart and soul, that’s who he is. So it was good to get some of the reports. The trainers kept coming back, kind of trying to keep us updated. But we were very worried.”
Perez had not talked with Matheny after the game when he got on a postgame video conference with reporters, but Perez expressed a desire to be in the lineup on Thursday night, provided he feels OK.
“I think just put some tape [on it],” Perez said. “Like back in the day. Put some tape, take some pills, go play and see what happens.”
The Royals have four games remaining this season. Perez’s next home run would set the franchise record, and he’s still in position to finish the season with the most home runs and RBIs in the majors. Perez leads the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. by two homers and the White Sox’s Jose Abreu by eight RBIs entering Thursday.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 6:38 AM with the headline "Salvador Perez’s injury ‘takes the air out’ of dugout following record tying homer."
