KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Salvador Perez tied the Royals‘ franchise home run record and Lane Thomas hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh to lift Kansas City to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Perez hit his 14th home run of the season and 317th of his career to tie the George Brett’s Royals franchise record in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro was emotional talking about Perez after the Royals’ victory.
“I love that guy. What he does, the way he goes about it, the passion he plays the game [with], it’s unrivaled,” he said. “The guy’s a Hall of Famer, and you’re getting to witness it.”
Kansas City right-hander Seth Lugo (4-6) held the Giants scoreless until the sixth inning, when he gave up a leadoff walk and hit the next batter. Runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Drew Cavanaugh, and Luis Arraez knocked across the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Giants (42-60) struck again in the seventh with an RBI triple from Jung Hoo Lee and an RBI double from Willy Adames to extend the lead. Lugo exited after the inning, giving up three hits and two walks. He also had five strikeouts.
Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a double in the seventh. He was called safe after sliding past the bag. The call was confirmed, and Giants manager Tony Vitello was ejected after arguing the call.
On the next at-bat, Perez hit his milestone homer. That signaled the end of right-hander Landen Roupp‘s day. He allowed four hits and two runs and struck out seven.
The Royals (43-60) pieced together the tying run with three straight singles, the third coming from pinch hitter Nick Loftin. Kansas City loaded the bases with two outs, and two scored on Thomas’ single to right center.
Royals closer Steven Cruz gave up a two-out home run but popped out the final batter to earn his first career save.
San Francisco lefty Sam Hentges (1-3) took the loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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