Salvy Perez delivers in 9th inning as Kansas City Royals rally for 8-7 win in Denver
When it started to look like the Kansas City Royals’ road trip would come to a painfully bleak end amid a squandered a six-run lead, Salvador Perez delivered in crucial circumstances and saved the day in a wild game that featured no shortage of emotional swings.
Perez’s bases-loaded two-run single in the top of the ninth inning changed the entire complexion of the Royals day as they escaped with an 8-7 series-clinching win over the Colorado Rockies in front of an announced 34,505 in the rubber match of a three-game series at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon.
Asked if he still gets as excited about a big hit as he did earlier in his career, Perez replied, “Yeah, every time. Every time we’ve got an opportunity. You know how hard it is to get those moments in the big leagues. Every time I have the opportunity to do something, if I do it right, I’m going to get excited. That’s part of the game.”
With the victory, the Royals (12-20) finished their road trip 4-5.
A six-run Royals lead dwindled away in the matter of one inning with three relievers — Collin Snider, Amir Garrett and Taylor Clarke — each giving up runs in the frame. A throwing error also contributed to a pair of unearned runs in a seven-run inning that flipped the game in the Rockies’ favor.
Andrew Benintendi (walk) and Ryan O’Hearn (single) reached as pinch-hitters in the ninth against Rockies closer Daniel Bard, and Michael A. Taylor drew a one-out walk to bring Perez to the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Perez, who’d been 0 for 4 going into the ninth, smacked the first-pitch sinker at 97 mph into left field.
“He’s one of the best closers in the league,” Perez said. “I just tried to see something up over the plate. As a hitter it’s really just tie that game. I don’t worry about the guy on second base, first base. I just worry about trying to bring one in, tie the game and have some more opportunities. He left me a fastball, 97 or 98, inside and I hit it pretty good.”
Last season, Perez had 29 go-ahead RBIs and his 15 game-winning RBIs (the most by a Royal since Eric Hosmer had 16 in 2016).
“He’s got that clutch-gene factor,” Royals rookie Bobby Witt Jr. said of Perez. “He just went up there and you kinda had a feeling he was going to do something, bases loaded. He just always stays calm, always the same guy up there.”
In the bottom of the ninth, Royals reliever Scott Barlow retired the side in order and finished with a strikeout of Randal Grichuk that prompted a primal scream towards the Royals dugout by Barlow.
“That emotional swing,” Barlow said. “You get a little down on yourself, I always had a good idea that we had a lot of resilience. We were taking good at-bats pretty much the whole game, knowing in that ninth we had confidence that we were going to come out and win that game.”
The Royals got an outstanding start from left-hander Daniel Lynch, who pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his first start at Coors Field. He allowed just three hits, walked four and struck out four.
Lynch’s start seemingly put the Royals well on their way to a wire-to-wire victory. He left the game with his club leading 3-0, and they added three more runs in the top of the seventh. But then the Rockies pieced together a seven-run bottom half of the seventh on five hits (all singles), two walks, a fielder’s choice and throwing error and a sacrifice fly.
“I’d sum it up by saying it was the best win of the year, that kind of fight,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “You know, it could have been the worst loss of the year when you have a start like that.
“Daniel was so good. … Then to watch the guys put on offense and then get kicked right square in the gut and come back fighting and swinging, I believe that’s part of the DNA of who this club is. It’s good to see it. We need those games -- unfortunately, you don’t want to give up a lead -- but you need those games to show that kind of fight and what kind of resilience these guys have.”
Whit Merrifield, Emmanuel Rivera and Witt each smacked home runs. Witt homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, while Merrifield (2 for 4, run scored, 2 RBIs) and Rivera (2 for 3, two runs, three RBIs) combined to drive in five of the Royals’ eight runs.
Rivera joined Witt as the only two players in Royals history to hit each of their first two career home runs against National League teams. Of course, Witt pushed his total to three with Sunday’s blast.
“We came on here and came on this road trip anticipating that we were going to get some things going, one of the things was the offense,” Matheny said. “We saw the offense start to put some things together, and some guys are walking out of here with some confidence. But it’s the wins and losses that we all take home at night. To take one home today, it’s really hard to put words to how much it means to this group.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2022 at 5:47 PM.
