Perez has career-high 5 RBIs in Royals’ win over Tigers

Two days before the Royals’ 8-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, Salvador Perez sat at his locker in a clubhouse in Oakland and bathed in the frustration of a rare mistake. On the final day of a seven-game road trip, it was Perez who let a baseball slip between his legs, a pivotal moment in a 3-2 loss to the Athletics.On Tuesday night, as the Royals returned home for another homestand, Perez seemed intent on rectifying his error. He roped a two-out, two-run double in the third inning off Detroit starter Shane Greene. He clubbed a three-run home run off reliever Blaine Hardy in the fifth. He finished with a career-high five RBIs, an output that became crucial when the bullpen nearly imploded in the final innings.The Royals led 8-2 after the fifth inning. They nearly collapsed after left-hander Danny Duffy allowed a three-run homer in the seventh and a struggling Joakim Soria loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. With former Most Valuable Player Miguel Cabrera striding to the plate, Royals manager Ned Yost turned to right-hander Kelvin Herrera, who survived the jam with an 8-6 lead intact.“We’re going to play hard until the last out,” explained Perez, who had a two-run double in the third inning before his homer in the fifth. “We’re always going to play hard.”Herrera struck out Cabrera on three straight sliders, plunked Victor Martinez on another breaking ball, and then ended the inning by getting J.D. Martinez to fly out to right field. Wade Davis was a little sharper in the ninth, working his sixth save. The events of Tuesday could put Soria’s status as the de facto eighth inning guy in further jeopardy. Re-acquired during the offseason to bolster the Royals’ bullpen and offset the losses of Greg Holland and Ryan Madson, Soria has suffered from a combination of choppy command and poor luck. On Tuesday, he was hit by both - again - and Herrera was required to clean up the mess.For a moment, of course, the Royals can focus on other things. They improved to 9-4 on the season, one game off their torrid early pace from a season ago, and 1{ games ahead of Detroit. They were also whole on Tuesday for the first time, welcoming back Jarrod Dyson after he missed the season’s first 12 games while recovering from a oblique strain. Dyson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI while starting in right field and batting ninth.The Royals also improved to 3-0 in games started by Yordano Ventura, who picked up his first victory. Ventura allowed two runs and six hits in five innings, a promising performance that was close to being something more substantial. In two starts, Ventura had allowed three earned runs in 11 innings. On Tuesday, he breezed through the first two innings, striking out Cabrera on an 88 mph changeup in the top of the first. Then things got more interesting.Ventura work into a self-imposed jam in the third, with a costly throwing error on a play at second that helped load the bases with one out. But once again, Ventura buckled down under duress. He foiled Cabrera with another changeup, striking him out for a second time, then coaxed a pop fly from Victor Martinez.Ventura finally gave in during the top of the fifth, allowing two runs on a double from Cabrera. But he maneuvered out of another bases-loaded jam in the inning before giving way to reliever Luke Hochevar in the sixth.Back at home after a day off on Monday, the Royals had snatched the lead with a pair of two-out rallies in the second and third innings. Dyson kicked off the first burst with an RBI single to left field, scoring Kendrys Morales from second base. The play included a rather aggressive “send” from third-base coach Mike Jirschele, but the Royals caught a break when Detroit catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia whiffed on the throw to the plate. Moments later, Alcides Escobar stretched the lead to 3-0 with a bloop single that scored Alex Gordon and Dyson, who had wound up at second on the previous play.One inning later, Perez delivered the two-out damage, ripping a two-run double off Detroit starter Shane Greene.The inning nearly came and went when Eric Hosmer grounded into a double play with nobody out.  But Morales extended the inning with a single and Gordon gave Perez an opportunity by drawing another walk. Perez came through once. Then came through again in the fifth.RESULTSMilwaukee 6 Minnesota 5               Cleveland 3 Seattle 2               NY Mets 11 Philadelphia 1               Oakland 3 NY Yankees 2 (11 innings) Toronto 4 Baltimore 3Cincinnati 4 Colorado 3               Atlanta 8 LA Dodgers 1               Tampa Bay 3 Boston 0 (10 innings)Washington 7  Miami 0Kansas City 8 Detroit 6Texas 7 Houston 5White Sox 5  LA Angels 0               Chicago Cubs 2 St. Louis 1San Diego 5 Pittsburgh 4Arizona 3 San Francisco 0