NEW YORK — Hours before becoming the hero in his 35th career postseason game, Salvador Perez discussed how undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019 helped prolong his career.
“I think it happened for a reason,” Perez said Monday afternoon. “At that moment I don’t understand that, but after a few years, yeah, I get it. And I think that everything happens for a reason because now I think Tommy John (added) a few more years.”
Back in the postseason five years later, Perez homered against one of his favorite opponents to help the Kansas City Royals get back in the American League Division Series.
Perez hit a long home run off Carlos Rodon to start a four-run fourth inning and the Royals beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday to even the series at one win apiece.
Game 3 of the best-of-five set is scheduled for Wednesday night in Kansas City. It will be the Royals’ first postseason home game since Game 2 of the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets. Perez was the Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic that year as Kansas City won the title in five games.
The only remaining player from that Royals team, Perez forged a 1-1 tie on Monday by hammering a 2-0 slider to the back of the left field seats.
“Every time I do something to help my team to win, it feels amazing,” Perez said. “We tie the game, we’re in position, and just get excited a little bit too much.”
It was Perez’s sixth career postseason homer and first since Game 5 of the 2015 AL Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The veteran catcher’s 402-foot drive on Monday gives him 13 hits, including four long balls, in 28 career at-bats off Rodon (0-1). The two faced off frequently when the left-hander pitched for the Chicago White Sox.
Following Perez’s homer, the Royals continued to pounce on Rodon’s slider, as Tommy Pham and Garrett Hampson had run-scoring singles.
Yuli Gurriel followed Perez’s drive with a single to left on a 2-2 slider, and he took second on a wild pitch. After Rodon got the first out of the inning, Pham lined another slider to center to plate Gurriel for a 2-1 lead, then stole second.
With two outs, Pham easily scored when Hampson hit a slider to left for a 3-1 lead, chasing Rodon from the game. Maikel Garcia added an RBI single off Ian Hamilton, but he got caught in a rundown for the final out of the frame.
“Salvy’s homer clearly was a big spot there, and then Yuli had another productive at-bat,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “Our guys just battled those at-bats in the fourth inning.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Rodon, “Just a tough inning where his command got away from him, especially in the secondary (stuff). Because stuff-wise, he was excellent tonight, but then all of a sudden just a little scattered there.”
Kansas City starter Cole Ragans struggled with command at times but held the Yankees to one run on three hits in four innings before the Royals used four relievers to finish the game. Ragans struck out five and walked four.
“Salvy is incredible,” Ragans said of his catcher. “He’s built for this. He’s been here before. He knows what it takes. He gets us right back into the game. It’s fun to watch him do his thing, obviously, throughout the season, but definitely in the postseason.”
Angel Zerpa (2-0) got a double play to end the fifth, and John Schreiber got three flyouts in the sixth for Kansas City.
Kris Bubic pitched two innings, getting Juan Soto to fly out to the warning track to end the seventh and retiring Giancarlo Stanton on a double-play grounder to end the eighth. Lucas Erceg gave up Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s homer to start the ninth and a two-out single to Jon Berti before notching his third save of the postseason.
Rodon allowed four runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and fanned seven.
“I left some sliders not up in the zone … hittable sliders they made some good swings on,” Rodon said. “I think I could have been better with those pitches.”
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third on Stanton’s RBI single but were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-19 in such at-bats during the series.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
