Salvador Perez has been passing milestones for long enough that you’d think the man would run out of them. He hasn’t. On Saturday at Comerica Park, the Royals catcher led off the seventh inning with a 401-foot home run off Detroit reliever Kyle Finnegan — his 318th career blast, breaking George Brett’s franchise record that had stood for four decades.
The shot tied the game at 2-2. It also turned a quiet afternoon into something else entirely.
Because Nick Loftin had a follow-up in mind.
With one out in the ninth and the score still knotted, Loftin drove a solo home run off Jacob Waguespack (0-1) — his fifth of the season — to put Kansas City ahead for good. The Royals held on for a 3-2 win that snapped Detroit’s three-game winning streak and evened the emotional ledger on a day that belonged to the visitors’ power bats.
The Tigers had controlled most of the afternoon behind Hao-Yu Lee, who homered in the fourth and doubled in a run in the second, driving in both Detroit runs and extending his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games. Lee has been one of the few bright spots in a Detroit lineup that couldn’t produce a big inning when it needed one.
Both starters turned in quality work without factoring in the decision. Kansas City’s Michael Wacha gave up two runs on six hits across seven innings. Casey Mize matched him for six, allowing one run on three hits before the bullpens took over.
The teams traded single runs early. Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly scored Vinnie Pasquantino in the top of the second; Riley Greene doubled and came home on Lee’s double in the bottom half. Lee’s fourth-inning homer gave Detroit its 2-1 lead, and from there the game settled into a pitching duel — until Perez detonated it.
Perez had a chance to do more damage in the eighth, stepping in with runners on first and third and two outs, but grounded into a forceout at second. The at-bat that mattered was the one in the seventh, the one that put him alone atop a list Brett had owned since 1985.
The ninth got tense in a hurry. Riley Greene led off with a single off Daniel Lynch IV (4-2), and Royals manager Matt Quatraro went to the bullpen for Alex Lange — the former Tigers closer returning to Comerica Park with a job to do against his old club. Lange struck out Lee, then watched Zach McKinstry single to right, putting runners on the corners with one out. He struck out Matt Vierling and retired pinch-hitter Spencer Torkelson to nail down his 10th save.
The four-game series wraps Sunday, with Detroit left-hander Framber Valdez (5-7, 5.47 ERA) scheduled to start against a Royals opener.
Perez now owns the Royals’ all-time home run record outright. Loftin owns the swing that made sure the record-setting night ended with a win.