Salvador Perez’s two-run home run in the sixth snapped a scoreless tie and the host Kansas City Royals went on to blank the Houston Astros 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Perez had his first three-RBI game of the season, and the Royals scored all six runs with two outs.
The Royals snapped a five-game losing streak and evened this three-game series at a game apiece. They also ended the Astros’ winning streak at five games.
Collin Snider (4-2) pitched a perfect sixth inning to pick up the win for Kansas City. Houston starter Luis Garcia (3-4) took the loss after he allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings.
Kansas City starter Kris Bubic was solid in his return to the majors after a short stint at Triple-A Omaha. He threw five scoreless innings, giving up five hits, walking three and striking out three. He threw 98 pitches and dropped his ERA below 10 for the first time this season.
Bubic, who entered the game with the most first-inning runs allowed in the majors (14 in five starts), worked around a one-out double and a two-out walk in the first.
Bubic battled through the first three innings. He recorded first-pitch strikes on just two of the first 14 batters he faced, and those pitches were put into play.
He got into a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the third but escaped when he got Yuli Gurriel to ground into a force play. He stranded five Astros through three innings.
Garcia matched Bubic with zeroes through five innings and did not allow more than one runner in any inning.
The Royals finally scored on Garcia in the sixth, however. Whit Merrifield led off the inning with a single but was still at first with two outs. Perez then turned on a 1-2 fastball for a two-run home run that landed in the Houston bullpen in left. Perez had been 1-for-25 since returning from the injured list with a sprained left thumb.
The Royals scored four runs in the eighth to blow the game open. The runs scored on Bobby Witt Jr.’s two-out single, Perez’s RBI double and Hunter Dozier’s two-run single. All four runs were charged to Rafael Montero, who came into the game with a 0.44 ERA.
–Field Level Media
