Salvador Pérez rose to fifth place in history among Venezuelans with the most home runs in the history of the Major Leagues. The catcher stood out with a powerful offense on Saturday night, although he did not prevent the Kansas City Royals from losing 9-7 against the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.
Pérez went 3-for-5 with one run scored and five RBIs, matching a career high of 13 seasons as a major leaguer. The home run, with two runners in circulation, was the 252nd of his career, breaking the parity he maintained with Antonio Armas.
“He is a great player who does important things,” pitcher Brady Singer told MLB.com about the Creole. “It’s incredible to see. I’ve been lucky enough to play with him for a couple of years, watching him every day is a lot of fun. He always wants to play, even if he is beaten. He is a warrior, a beast”.
The Carabobeño’s home run was in the sixth inning, against ace Corbin Burnes, to close the gap on the scoreboard 7-3. The ball left the park in left field at a distance of 395 feet and with an exit speed of 103.7 miles per hour.
It was the 33-year-old slugger’s sixth homer of the season, leading among his teammates at dawn Sunday and his most in the first 20 games of a season since 2017 when he also hit six, according to Baseball-Reference.
In the seventh inning, Pérez returned to the batter’s box, this time with the bases loaded and two outs. A scenario that was not wasted to hit a single and produce two more runs, leaving the difference by the minimum, 8-7.
With the uncatchable one, Pérez raised his RBIs in the contest to 22, to lead the section in the American League and register the highest number in the initial 20 confrontations of a contest for any Kansas City player, since Mike Avilés had 23, in 2011.
Top Venezuelan home run hitters in the Major Leagues
- 511 – Miguel Cabrera
- 399 – Andrés Galarraga
- 294 – Magglio Ordóñez
- 288 – Bob Abreu
- 252 – Salvador Perez
- 251 – Antonio Armas
2024-04-22 08:32:35
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