NEW YORK — Salvador Perez hit a long homer off Carlos Rodon to start a four-run fourth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night to even their American League Division Series at one game apiece.
Game 3 of the best-of-five set is scheduled for Wednesday night in Kansas City.
The only remaining player from Kansas City’s 2015 World Series team, Perez forged a 1-1 tie by hammering a 2-0 slider to the back of the left field seats.
It was Perez’s sixth career postseason homer and first since Game 5 of the 2015 AL Championship Series.
The veteran catcher’s 402-foot drive gives him 13 hits in 28 career at-bats off Rodon (0-1), whom he faced frequently when the Yankees left-hander pitched for the Chicago White Sox.
Following Perez’s homer, the Royals continued to pounce on Rodon’s slider, as Tommy Pham and Garrett Hampson had run-scoring singles.
Yuli Gurriel followed Perez’s drive with a single to left on a 2-2 slider and took second on a wild pitch. After Rodon got the first out of the fourth, Pham lined another slider to center to plate Gurriel for a 2-1 lead, then stole second.
With two outs, Pham easily scored when Hampson hit a slider to left for a 3-1 lead, chasing Rodon from the game in the process. Maikel Garcia added an RBI single off Ian Hamilton, but he got caught in a rundown for the final out of the frame.
Kansas City starter Cole Ragans struggled with command at times but held the Yankees to one run on three hits in four innings before the Royals used four relievers to finish the game. Ragans struck out five and walked four.
Angel Zerpa (2-0) got a double play to end the fifth, and John Schreiber got three flyouts in the sixth for Kansas City.
Kris Bubic pitched two innings, getting Juan Soto to fly out to the warning track to end the seventh and retiring Giancarlo Stanton on a double-play grounder to end the eighth. Lucas Erceg gave up Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s homer to start the ninth and a two-out single to Jon Berti before notching the save.
Rodon allowed four runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and fanned seven.
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third on Stanton’s RBI single.
New York finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media