KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe hit two home runs during a five-run third inning Friday night, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4 in the opener of an interleague series between playoff contenders.
Perez capitalized on his success in a Wiffle ball game against neighborhood kids a day earlier, hitting three RBIs. Paul DeJong and Vinnie Pasquantino also scored runs to help the Royals move to within one game of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
“Wiffle ball yesterday prepared me for today,” joked Perez, who also had over 900 RBIs in his career. “Pretty good night.”
Michael Wacha (11-6) extended his winning streak to seven straight decisions, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five in six innings. He hasn’t lost since June 22 and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in a start since June 4.
Lucas Erceg hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning, marking his tenth save and fourth since joining Kansas City.
“It was hard work,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “They always make you work. This is a talented team.”
The problems continued for Phillies’ Taijuan Walker (3-5), however. The veteran allowed six runs on eight hits and one walk in just three innings and has now allowed 30 runs on 43 hits and 18 walks in 38 innings in his eight starts.
“In the third inning, it was all in the middle of the plate. It was all about command,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who declined to comment on whether Walker would make his next scheduled start. “He’s attacking hitters more, but you don’t want to be in the middle of the plate all the time. It’s one of those things. He comes back and then he has to get to the middle.”
Kansas City was certainly an awkward return to the area for Thomson, who played college football down Interstate 70 in Kansas, where his .369 average from 1983-85 remains the fifth-best in school history.
Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh scored the runs for Philadelphia.
The Royals began a 20-game streak against teams currently in playoff positions, including the Phillies, who began the day with a six-game lead in the NL East. And they did it in style, taking a 6-1 lead after their strong third inning.
The Royals led 7-2 in the eighth when Philadelphia tried to beat Kris Bubic. Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and Castellanos reached first base with one-out singles and Harper scored on a wild pitch. But Bubic came back and got Stott on a sacrifice fly and JT Realmuto on a groundout to win the game, preserving the Royals’ three-run lead.
From then on, Erceg took the lead and Kansas City won for the seventh time in the last eight games.
“It was definitely nice to win the first game of the series,” Wacha said. “We don’t look too far ahead. Our mindset is to win today and worry about tomorrow when it happens. We all believe we have a really good team to do something special.”
TRAINING ROOM
Phillies: OF Austin Hayes (left hamstring strain) was activated from the injured list and started in left field. OF Cal Stevenson was sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for him on the roster.
Royals: RHP Hunter Harvey (back tightness) planned to see a doctor Friday to set up a throwing plan after two good days. He received an injection Tuesday after suffering a setback a day earlier.
Next
Phillies: LHP Ranger Suárez is expected to return Saturday night from the injured list, where he has been since late July because of lower back soreness.
Royals: RHP Brady Singer (9-8, 3.18 ERA) will look to build on six shutout innings against the Reds.
