Salvador Perez smacked two doubles, part of a three-hit, three-RBI night as the Royals topped the Mariners 6-3 Tuesday night.
The Royals didn’t want to pounce on Mariners starter Emerson Hancock with Jonathan India lacing a double in the gap to start the game. Maikel Garcia continued his All-Star caliber season with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Royals in the first.
Kansas City kept the line moving in the second when Jac Caglianone led off with a walk and Nick Loftin doubled down the left field line to drive him home. After a John Rave single, Loftin would score on a ground out fielder’s choice hit by Kyle Isbel to make it 3-0.
Randy Arozarena hit a long home run off Royals starter Michael Lorenzen in the bottom of the inning to put the Mariners on the board.
But the offense gave him some runs to work with in the fifth. Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an infield single and advanced to third on a Vinnie Pasquantino double. Salvy drove one to deep right-center that looked like a home run, but centerfielder Julio Rodriguez hilariously overran it and jumped up the fence, when the ball landed on the warning track for a double – shades of a misplay by Royals outfielder Kerry Robinson back in the day.
Lorenzen would give up a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, departing after 4 2⁄3 innings with a 5-3 lead. John Schreiber and Angel Zerpa danced around trouble but kept the Mariners off the board, and Lucas Erceg bailed Zerpa out of a jam in the seventh. Salvy singled home another run in the ninth, and Carlos Estévez nailed down the ninth for his 23rd save of the year to tie for the MLB lead.
The Royals scored six runs, the second time they have scored more than four runs in a game in their last ten games. They improve to 40-46 and will face the Mariners again tomorrow night when Noah Cameron takes on Logan Gilbert at 8:40 CT.
