Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Hunter Gaddis (front) reacts after allowing a solo home run to Bobby Witt Jr. (back) of the Kansas City Royals in the eighth inning of the first game of a baseball doubleheader in Cleveland, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
CLEVELAND — Salvador Perez hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, the most in his career, as the Kansas City Royals completed a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland on Monday night. They beat the Guardians 9-4 on Monday night to move within one game of the AL Central’s first place finish.
The Royals won the opening game 4-3 when Bobby Witt Jr. broke the tie with his 27th home run – and 11th since July 19 – in the eighth inning.
After trailing by nine games in early July, the Royals have cut Cleveland’s lead since the All-Star break to an AL record of 22-13, and with a win on Tuesday they can now tie the team at the top of the division.
“You can’t ask for more than that,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It doesn’t mean anything is over. But these guys played extremely hard today after getting beat up the last few days (two straight losses to Philadelphia) and put that behind them.”
In Game 2, the 34-year-old Perez, who served as DH after catching the opening ball in adverse conditions, hit a solo home run in the fifth inning – after nearly getting a strikeout – and then hit his sixth career slam in the sixth inning against Tim Herrin.
The nine-time All-Star catcher has had 17 games with multiple home runs in his career, tying him with Hall of Famer George Brett for the most home runs in Kansas City history.
“He’s remarkable,” Quatraro said. “The first game he was exhausted physically and mentally, and you could tell. Then to go out there and get those at-bats was remarkable.”
The Guardians, who have led the Central since April 14, have fallen to 0-8 in doubleheaders this season and 1-15 in the last two.
But manager Stephen Vogt sees no hanging heads.
“They’re professionals,” he said. “They know it was a tough day. Every time we have a tough day, they come back and are ready to win. This group doesn’t get discouraged. It’s not in their blood. They all know where we stand.”
Leading 5-4 in the sixth inning, the Royals had loaded all bases and forced a runner to the plate before Perez hit his 25th home run, 457 feet into the stands. With his hit, Perez tied Frank White for the most slams in Royals history.
José Ramírez hit three doubles, giving Cleveland’s star third baseman two or more extra-base hits in 109 games. He is now tied with Tris Speaker for second place in club history behind Earl Averill (135). Ramírez also hit 30 home runs, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season for the second time.
Perez’s home run in the fifth inning against Logan Allen (8-5) came one pitch after he caught a break.
He returned a 3-2 pitch that catcher Bo Naylor appeared to have caught before it hit the ground, but plate umpire John Tumpane looked into Naylor’s glove and noticed dirt on the ball, giving Perez new life.
With another chance, he hit his 24th home run into the stands, giving Kansas City a 5-4 lead.
Tumpane made the same decision in the sixth inning and this time Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis was ejected for arguing.
Willis felt that Perez not only missed, but also that he missed the ball.
“I don’t think the batter hit the bat,” Willis said. “They made the decision they made, and the next pitch goes over the wall, and then a half-inning later, kind of a repeat of the same scenario. That threw me a little bit.”
In the opening game, Witt threw an 0-1 pitch from rookie Hunter Gaddis (4-3) and drove it 413 feet into the left-field bleachers.
The All-Star shortstop posted a .417 batting average since the break, the fourth-highest average (with at least 125 at-bats) in the second half since World War II. Only Ted Williams (.454 in 1957), Ichiro Suzuki (.429, 2004) and George Brett (.421, 1980) posted a higher batting average.
For Witt, it was just another remarkable moment of many in 2024.
“He’s always there,” Quatraro said. “He doesn’t care what he did before or what he’s going to do tomorrow. He’s going to be in the box trying to beat you right there. Bobby is a special player.”
MJ Melendez hit a three-run home run for the Royals in Game 1 and made a sensational catch in left field.
John Schreiber (4-3) went 1 2/3 innings and Lucas Erceg scored the equalizing point with a walk in the ninth inning before picking up his fifth save since coming to Kansas City from Oakland in a trade on July 30.
Reliever Nick Sandlin made his first major league start for Cleveland in the opening game. The right-hander hadn’t started a game since his junior year at Southern Miss in 2018.
TRAINING ROOM
Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb (broken fingernail) had no problems throwing a bullpen session on Sunday. He is scheduled to take live batting practice on Tuesday. Cobb was acquired from San Francisco at the trade deadline.
Next
Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (2-6, 5.13 ERA) starts today against Royals RHP Michael Lorenzen (7-6, 3.47), who threw seven scoreless innings in his last game.
