It was one of the quietest afternoon games at Kauffman Stadium this season between two of the worst teams in baseball.
But Salvador Perez gave Kansas City Royals fans a treat for the sunny and breezy 1:10 p.m. July start — a historic home run that put him one step closer on his journey to Royals-legend status.
And kickstarted the offense, too.
The Kansas City Royals won their home series finale against the San Francisco Giants 5-4, securing a clean sweep.
The Royals rode Seth Lugo’s 13th quality start of the season. He allowed only one hit through six innings, but his sixth and seventh frames opened the door for San Francisco to take control.
With the score tied 0-0 in the sixth, Lugo walked shortstop Willy Adames and hit centerfielder Drew Gilbert to put two on base with no outs. A sacrifice bunt put the duo on second and third, and a Luis Arraez sac fly gave the Giants a 1-0 lead.
They increased that lead in the seventh, with Rafael Devers scoring on a Jung Hoo Lee triple. Adames sent Lee home on a ground-rule double to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead.
Lugo (4-6) finished the game allowing three hits, three earned runs and two walks while getting five strikeouts through seven innings.
Then the tide changed for the Royals in the bottom of the seventh.
Controversial call starts Royals’ rally
Vinnie Pasquantino ripped a leadoff double down the first-base line. He slid into second and appeared to be falling off the base, but was called safe as Adames tagged him. Adames and Giants manager Tony Vitello, who walked on the field from the dugout, argued the call with second base umpire Mike Estabrook.
Once Vitello walked back to the dugout, still barking at the umpires, third base ump Lance Barrett ejected him from the game. The call on the field was that Adames pushed Pasquantino off the base, which can’t be challenged.
Replay coordinator Bill Duplissea told KC manager Matt Quatraro that Pasquantino was safe anyway.
“He should have gotten in the umpire’s face if he really was about it there,” joked Pasquantino, who knows Vitello personally. “It’s one of his softer ejections that I’ve ever seen. I’m just happy I was safe.”
That was the genesis of the Royals’ rally.
Salvador Perez makes Royals history
Two pitches later, Salvador Perez blasted a 92 mph sinker off Landen Roupp to right center for home run No. 317 in a Kansas City uniform. Roupp only allowed two hits and collected seven strikeouts in six innings before he was pulled.
His 14th homer of the year tied him with Royals legend George Brett for the most home runs in franchise history.
“I don’t think about (hitting a) home run. I (didn’t) even know I got it,” Perez told reporters after the game.
After he was mobbed by his teammates in the dugout, he stepped outside for a brief moment of raucous applause from the 14,606 fans in attendance.
He made sure to blow a kiss to his mother, as well as his wife and their children, who were at the game.
“I know what sacrifice my mom makes,” he said.
Perez’s home run lifted the stadium from a relaxing afternoon at the ballpark into roaring applause. And the Royals kept that going with a five-run half inning.
The Giants went through two other pitchers in the inning (Sam Hentges and Keaton Winn) as Nick Loftin drove in a run to tie the score at 3-3 and Lane Thomas hit a two-RBI single to right to secure the lead.
Daniel Lynch and Steven Cruz finished the game on the mound for the Royals. Cruz got the first save of his career, despite giving up a solo homer with two outs.
The clubhouse after the game was a vibrant, emotional scene. Music still blared with a haze from the team’s smoke machine in the air. Children of the players walked around with their mouths full of ice cream sandwiches and popsicles.
Quatraro addressed the team, which he rarely does after wins, to embrace the moment. The manager wiped tears from his eyes as he described his admiration for Perez.
“I love that guy,” he said. “What he does, the way he goes about it, the passion he plays with … it’s unrivaled. You know, the guy’s a Hall of Famer, and you’re getting to witness it.”
The Royals have now won five of the first six games since returning from the All-Star break. This win was a team effort, with players like Josh Rojas, Starling Marte and newly called up Andrew Velazquez stepping in for injured starters like Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr.
The team is looking forward to when Perez, 36, breaks the home run record, potentially in an opposing stadium. But they’ll need wins in the meantime.
“I think they understand that we’ve dug ourselves a big hole,” Quatraro said. “But you can’t do anything but try to come out and win today, and that’s what they believe in.”
Up next: The Royals, now 43-60, begin a 10-game road trip Thursday at the Detroit Tigers. They will play four games at Detroit, three at Minnesota and three more at Colorado before returning home in August.
This story was originally published July 22, 2026 at 3:50 PM.
The Kansas City Star
PJ Green is a breaking news reporter for The Star. He previously was a sports reporter for Fox’s Kansas City affiliate and a news reporter for NBC’s Wichita Falls, Texas affiliate. He studied English with a concentration in journalism and played football at Tusculum University. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter and Bluesky – @ByPJGreen
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
