All-Star catcher Salvador Perez drove in a pair of 8th inning runs with an opposite field single, as the Kansas City Royals had the final rally of the game to take down the visiting Houston Astros, 7-6 on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.
With two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Royals had no on and two outs, before Whit Merrifield and Nicky Lopez cracked back-to-back singles off Astros reliever Yimi Garcia (3-8), bringing Perez to the plate. Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler had the call on Bally Sports Kansas City:
Scott Barlow was the beneficiary of the 8th inning rally, and got the victory (5-3) for Kansas City, despite allowing a run to score in the Houston 8th inning, and giving up a solo homer to Jason Castro in the ninth. A pop-up from All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve ended the game.
Aledmys Diaz and Carlos Correa both had homers for the Astros, the leaders in the American League’s Western Division. Hunter Dozier had a homer for the Royals in the bottom of the 6th inning.
On the injury front for Kansas City, shortstop Adalberto Mondesi has shown the ability to hit right-handed, but scar tissue from a past oblique injury has caused him and team officials to shut him down from the left side of the plate. Mondesi, perhaps the most talented player on the Royals roster, has played in only 10 games this season dealing with consistent injuries to his midsection.
Relief pitcher Greg Holland was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday morning, shutting down the former closer with a record of 2-5 and an ERA of 5.79. Joel Payamps was recalled from AAA Omaha.
On Tuesday night at 7:10, Houston sends Framber Valdez (8-3, 3.09 ERA) to the mound to battle Royals rookie Daniel Lynch (2-3, 5.97), with pregame at 6:30 on KTTN AM 1600, and FM 98.3 and 92.3.
Here is the MLB scoreboard from Monday, August 16, 2021:
NY Yankees 2, LA Angels 1
Tampa Bay 9, Baltimore 2
Chicago White Sox 5, Oakland 2
Minnesota 5, Cleveland 4 (10)
Cincinnati 14, Chicago Cubs 5
Atlanta 12, Miami 2
Colorado 6, San Diego 5
San Francisco 7, NY Mets 5
LA Dodgers 2, Pittsburgh 1
