KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals ended a five-game losing streak, beating the Houston Astros 6-0 Saturday.
Kris Bubic and the Kansas City bullpen combined on a five-hitter, snapping Houston’s five-game winning string.
“I thought he got better the deeper he got into the ballgame,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He just kept making pitches, kept teasing the zone and getting them to chase at times.”
Perez connected with two outs in the sixth off Astros starter Luis Garcia (3-4), sending a drive into the left field bullpen. Perez added an RBI double during a four-run eighth.
“I’d had two or three strikeouts on a fastball up, so I tried to make the adjustment, tried to think what they’re going to do to you,” Perez said. “It was a fastball up. It was a good pitch. I just put the barrel on it. You’ve got to get on top of that pitch when you’re struggling.”
Perez’s seventh home run snapped an 0-for-22 streak and was his first homer since May 14. He drove in a run for the first time since May 15.
“That’s what I try to do every time, try to help my team to win,” Perez said. “Hopefully things start to move a different way.”
Last season, Perez topped the majors with 121 RBIs and was tied with Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a big league-leading 48 home runs.
“Salvy kind of stole the show for us today,” Matheny said. “And that’s the guy we want to see stealing the show. We want to see him come through and feel that confidence we know he has as an offensive weapon.”
Bubic, called up from Triple-A Omaha before the game, gave up five hits in five innings, striking out three and walked three.
“I was kind of tiptoeing the whole…
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