Salvy’s big hits, six-run inning leads to 9-2 Royals win

The Royals win the All-Star matchup on national TV.

Salvador Perez smashed a single, double, and home run, driving in two runs, and the Royals enjoyed a six-run seventh inning to make the game a laugher in a 9-2 win over the Tigers Friday night.

The nationally televised game on Apple TV+ featured an All-Star pitching matchup between Cole Ragans of the Royals and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers. Detroit got to Ragans first when Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a two-run home run in the second inning. Salvador Perez got a run back with his 20th home run of the year, a solo home run. Salvy now has 20 home runs in a season for the eighth time in his career - the only catchers with more 20+ home run seasons are Mike Piazza and Johnny Bench with 11, Brian McCann and Yogi Berra with 10, and Gary Carter with 9.

Salvy got the scoring going again in the fourth with a leadoff single, scoring from first on a Hunter Renfroe RBI double to tie the game after a close play at the plate. Freddy Fermin advanced Renfroe to third on a sacrifice bunt, and Paul DeJong collected his first RBI in a Royals uniform on a sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Ragans faced just the minimum over the second through the fifth, but got into a jam in the sixth and exited the game after 5 2/3 innings with just two hits and two runs allowed with four walks and six strikeouts. Lucas Erceg got out of the inning, preserving the 3-2 lead.

That allowed the offense to pour it on in the seventh. With one out, the Royals went on a barrage of nine hits in a row to put up a six-run inning. Pasquantino drove in two, Bobby Witt scored on a wild pitch, Salvy doubled home another run, and Fermin and DeJong each drove home runs in the outburst. Angel Zerpa, Chris Stratton, and James McArthur each pitched scoreless innings to preserve the win.

The Royals win their fifth in a row and improve to 62-49. They can take the series tomorrow evening at 5:10 CT when Michael Lorenzen makes his Royals debut.