Detroit — It’s never pleasant when these things happen against you. But there is a place within the competition for genuine respect for a decorated opponent.
Case in point: Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez.
Perez’s solo home run off Kyle Finnegan leading off the seventh inning tied the score at 2-2 and set the stage for teammate Nick Loftin’s winning home run off Jacob Waguespack in the ninth that gave the Royals a 3-2 victory over the Tigers Saturday before 32,867 at Comerica Park.
For Perez, it was his 318th career home run, making him the Royals’ franchise leader, surpassing Hall-of-Famer George Brett.
“I’ve been in the league a long time with Salvy,” Tigers manager AJ HInch said. “I’ve watched him grow and I’ve been on the tough side of a lot of competition with him. I love that he plays with joy and I love that he posts every day. This guy comes to play every day. … It’s tough when it comes at your expense, but you have to take a step away from that and respect greatness when it’s right in front of us.
“He’s the best catcher to play in my generation in the game.”
Similar sentiments were echoed in the Tigers’ clubhouse.
“I feel like he’s a pillar of Major League Baseball and of the American League Central,” said Casey Mize, who allowed just one run through six innings. “He’s a guy who has been tough on me since Day One in the league. I have a lot of respect for him as a hitter and a catcher. Just a special player for their franchise and for our league.”
Tigers’ catcher Jake Rogers grew up watching and admiring Perez.
“That was hard in the moment but I’m happy for him,” Rogers said. “He’s an incredible talent and an incredible person. It’s been really fun to see, from the other side, him do his thing. I am super proud for him.”
The Royals’ two late homers drove home an obvious point for the Tigers: It’s tough to win on a daily basis scoring just two runs.
“It felt like we had a lot of chances to win that game in a lot of different ways,” said Colt Keith, who got two of the Tigers’ six hits off starter Michael Wacha. “But it didn’t go our way. Wacha was really good. He was dotting up and he had us on our toes and he kept his pitch count down.”
The Tigers were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s not going to happen every time,” Hinch said. “Execution today hurt us a couple of times when we had a runner at second and nobody out and he doesn’t advance. But that’s part of baseball. We tried to extend the game the best we could and we had a tough time there, too. You want to win them all and you want to execute perfectly. The sport doesn’t always allow that.”
Perez hit a slider from Finnegan that backed up and stayed over the plate. Loftin hit a center-cut 94-mph fastball from Waguespack.
“That’s what hitters do up here,” Rogers said. “We needed to be a little better and execute a little better. It was a tough game, as far as that. But their guys did what hitters do against mistakes — they hit them a long way.”
For Finnegan, it continues a run of feast-of-famine outings. It was his seventh blown save.
“His mistakes have gotten punished,” Hinch said. “I’ve been leaning on those guys a lot and I always worry about that. Especially power pitchers. He’s able to escape it with a good splitter and a good slider and he does have an explosive fastball. But execution is super key for him.
“He’s always been an explosive guy and he still has that explosiveness. But the mistakes have gotten him burned.”
It ended up being a single-source offense for the Tigers. And that source was rookie Hao-Yu Lee.
He came into play Saturday riding a nine-game hitting streak with a gaudy slash-line (.330/.357/.511) and an .868 OPS since June 1.
Make that a 10-game hitting streak.
Lee doubled in a run in the second and hit his sixth home run in the fourth.
“Lee rakes,” Rogers said. “He’s on an incredible heater right now and it’s been fun to watch. He hits the ball harder than anybody I’ve seen. So when that guy gets hot like we’re seeing these last few weeks, he’s a big part of our lineup right now.”
Lee’s homer came on a change-up that Wachca left up and out of the strike zone. Didn’t matter. Lee got on top of it and clubbed it 402 feet over the Tigers’ bullpen in left field.
“You know we talk about staying inside the strike zone,” Hinch said with a grin. “Maybe not every time. Those two balls he hit today were not inside that box. But I love how he stays comfortable and competes. It’s amazing what opportunity does for a young player.”
The game provided another odd twist. On the mound to close out the bottom of the ninth was former Tigers closer Alex Lange. And he posted his 10th save very much in vintage Lange fashion. With a lot of drama and suspense.
He inherited Riley Greene, who had led off with a single against lefty Daniel Lynch IV. Lange struck out Lee but Zach McKinstry put him in the soup with a ringing single to right, moving Greene to third.
Hinch gave Matt Vierling two attempts to execute a safety squeeze but it didn’t happen.
“That’s a hard play to defend,” Hinch said. “It’s almost a guaranteed run if he gets the ball on the grass. But it’s easier said than done when the ball is coming at 96 mph.”
Lange ended up striking out Vierling and getting pinch-hitter Spencer Torkelson to pop out.
“I’ve seen that a bunch,” said Rogers of Lange’s first save at Comerica Park since May of 2024. “I love Lange and it’s always good to see him. But it was weird seeing him face us.”
The loss drops the Tigers to 50-55. They have a chance to win the series Sunday with lefty Framber Valdez on the mound.
@cmccosky
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