Kansas City Royals drop final meeting of the season with the Indians 6-1
The Kansas City Royals had their superstar Salvador Perez in the lineup, albeit as the designated hitter, one night after he sustained a sprained ankle that forced him out of a ballgame in the third inning.
However, Perez’s presence alone wasn’t enough as the Royals were held to one run in a 6-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians in front of an announced 11,288 at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday night.
The Royals (73-86) missed an opportunity to sweep the three-game series. They finished 5-14 in the season series against the Indians, including 11 consecutive losses at one point.
Perez went 1 for 4 with a double, one of two extra-base hits by the Royals. The All-Star catcher came out of Wednesday night’s game after two innings because of a sprained ankle he suffered while walking down the dugout steps between innings.
Perez came into the night one home run shy of setting a new franchise single-season record, and he also led the majors in both home runs (48) and RBIs (121).
“He wants to be out there,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “And we want him out there, so does everybody who has ever cheered for this club. I’m hoping he just feels better each day.”
Royals rookie Angel Zerpa (0-1) took the loss in his major-league debut despite allowing just two unearned runs.
Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi and Cam Gallagher had two hits apiece for the Royals in the loss. Santana drove in his club’s only run. Benintendi doubled and scored. Perez also doubled.
Gallagher, who entered Wednesday night’s game in place of Perez, started behind the plate.
Gallagher said of seeing Perez injure his ankle, “My heart kind of broke for him, watching him go through it and be in that much pain.”
Gallagher has contributed with the bat as Perez’s fill in. He’s had four hits and an RBI in the last two games. He credited work he’s done pregame with hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and coach John Mabry.
“I’ve been working a lot with Terry and Mabes in the cage,” Gallagher said. “When you’re not playing everyday, you have that time to kind of work a little bit more. Prior to (Wednesday) I was not playing but once or twice a week. I was probably in the cage a little bit more than most guys just because they’re getting those everyday at-bats and reps. ... Always staying ready and just trying to do what I can to help the team win.”
Benintendi doubled and scored on a Santana RBI single up the middle in the second inning to give the Royals a brief lead, 1-0.
The Indians took the lead in the second with a pair of unearned runs. The first batter of the inning, Roberto Perez, hit a bullet down the third-base line where Adalberto Mondesi made a sprawling stop. Mondesi scrambled to his feet and threw across the diamond, but Santana couldn’t pull in the one-hop throw.
Perez scored two batters later on a one-out RBI double by Oscar Mercado. Following a Myles Shaw single that put runners on first and third, Bradley Zimmer’s sacrifice fly scored Mercado.
The Indians added a run in the sixth against relief pitcher Dylan Coleman with the help of a Jose Ramirez leadoff triple. Then they scored two more in the seventh against reliever Tyler Zuber on a Zimmer RBI double and a two-out RBI single by Harold Ramirez.
Zimmer added his third RBI of the night in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly.
The Royals begin their final series of the season on Friday night against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The Twins will start right-hander John Gant (5-10, 3.74 ERA). The Royals will start right-hander Jon Heasley (0-1, 3.86).
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 10:27 PM.
