Salvy grand slam lifts Royals to 9-4 win to sweep doubleheader

The Royals are just one game out of first place.

Salvador Perez smashed two home runs, including a grand slam to carry the Royals to a 9-4 win over the Guardians to sweep Monday’s doubleheader. Perez finished with six RBI on the game, and went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader.

The Royals had some sloppy play early on. With two on against Alec Marsh, Jose Ramirez laced a line drive to right field and Dairon Blanco just forgot how to baseball. After misplaying the ball to allow both runners to score, he threw wildly, allowing Ramirez to slide into third.

After Josh Naylor was hit by a pitch, Marsh tried to pick off the slow-footed runner, and threw wildly, allowing Ramirez to score to make it 3-0 Guardians.

Paul DeJong got a run back in the second with a solo home run, his 22nd of the year and fourth with the Royals. In the fourth, Maikel Garcia singled and later scored on a groundout to make it 3-2.

The Royals got to starter Logan Allen in the first few innings, but stranded a number of baserunners. They finally broke through in the fourth when Garrett Hampson singled home a run, and Maikel Garcia drove home another on a sac fly to give the Royals a 4-3 lead.

Daniel Scheemann tied it back up in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run off Marsh, but Salvador Perez pushed the Royals back in the lead with a solo home run, his 24th of the season.

Alec Marsh exited after giving up a two-out double in the fifth, just one out shy of qualifying for the win. After Sam Long got the final out, Marsh had a line of 4 ²⁄₃ innings with four runs - two earned - on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

In the sixth, Garrett Hampson appeared to strike out on a pitch in the dirt, but for the second time in the evening, home plate umpire John Tumpane looked at the ball and determined Hampton had foul-tipped it. The at-bat continued, and Hampson singled for the second time in the evening. Maikel Garcia followed up with a single, and aggressive baserunning put the runners at second and third. The Guardians elected to intentionally walk Bobby Witt Jr., which appeared to be the right move when Vinnie Pasquantino bounced into a force out at home. But Salvador Perez picked him up with his second home run of the day, the sixth grand slam of his career, tying Frank White for most in club history.

Daniel Lynch IV gave the Royals three solid shutout innings to preserve the win and the doubleheader sweep. The Royals improve to 74-58 and are just one game back of the Guardians and a full game ahead of the Twins for the final Wild Card spot. They can take the series against the Guardians tomorrow evening at 5:40 CT when Michael Lorenzen takes on Gavin Williams.