Perez play at the play highlights Royals sweep of Mariners
Published 9:30 am Monday, May 4, 2026
Salvador Perez revved his engines like a luxury Cadillac. While not the most fleet of foot, Perez floored the gas pedal toward home plate.
He was racing against time.
In the fourth inning, Perez stood at third base with one out. Isaac Collins stood in the batter’s box with one goal in mind: Get Salvy home.
Collins held up his end of the bargain. He hit a fly ball to Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez that was just deep enough.
Perez tagged up and sprinted home. The baseball arrived at the same time, causing Perez to dive headfirst with his arms extended. The Royals captain was initially called out by home plate umpire Clint Vondrak.
“It was a pretty close play,” Perez said. “Rodriguez made a good throw. It was a little gap and I tried to put my hands right there to home plate.”
The call wasn’t satisfactory for Perez. He immediately motioned to Royals manager Matt Quatraro to challenge. And replay determined Perez got his hand in before the tag.
“As soon as I knew I felt the tag late, I was almost 100% that I was safe,” Perez said. “That’s when I asked Q to challenge.
“… I just tried to do my best to help my team to win.”
The Royals (15-19) took a two-run lead over the Mariners. Collins later added an RBI double as KC earned a 4-1 victory and series sweep at T-Mobile Park.
Perez led the Royals throughout the series. He had a key single in Saturday’s win and was a part of the three-run fourth inning.
“He sets the tone for our team,” Collins said of Perez. “To see him after all these years, catcher, obviously, not the fastest guy. To still, you know, run hard for a sac fly when we have the lead is huge. He didn’t have to run there, but he did. So I owe him something for sure.”
The Royals recorded two singles and benefitted from a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning. Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone and Collins all recorded RBIs.
Jensen drew a seven-pitch walk against Mariners starter Luis Castillo. Next, Caglianone drove home a run on a fielder’s choice. And that paved the way for Perez to sprint home with an instant to spare.
“He sets the example on the field and off the field,” Quatraro said of Perez. “You know, there’s nothing he doesn’t do to lead here. So it is a big thing. You see it carry over. You see Jac scoring from first. You see Maikel (Garcia) with the delay. There were a lot of good things on the bases today.”
Game notes
Starter Luis Castillo threw six innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits, two walks, one hit batter, and five strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches (62 strikes) in his seventh start of the season and 250th career start.
Castillo threw a 98.1 mph sinker to Maikel Garcia in the 3rd inning, his fastest pitch thrown this season…surpassed his season-high tying 97.6 mph fastball in the 1st inning to strike out Vinnie Pasquantino.
He also registered 13 swings and misses, tied for the third-most he has recorded in a game this season.
His 101 pitches are a season-high mark…he has thrown 90+ pitches in six of his seven starts this season, including 95-plus pitches in each of his last four starts.
He has thrown 100-plus pitches in 101 career starts, tied with Justin Verlander and Aaron Nola for the 5th-most games since 2017 (Castillo’s debut).
He is the second Mariner to throw 100-plus pitches in a game this season, joining Emerson Hancock who threw 103 pitches last night.
He has thrown six-plus innings in 150 career starts, sixth-most in MLB since 2017.
Making his Mariners debut, Jhonny Pereda threw out Isaac Collins, who was caught stealing in the 3rd inning. He threw out six steal attempts across 21 games with Triple-A Tacoma before being recalled to Seattle yesterday.
Mariners catchers have combined for 11 caught stealings this season, tied for the most in MLB.
Cole Young singled in the fourth inning. Across his last 16 games since April 16, he is batting .322 with eight runs, two doubles, a home run, 10 RBI, three walks, and two stolen bases.
Leo Rivas was walked in the third inning and recorded the first run of the game. He has recorded a walk in each of his last three games, tying the longest such streak of his career.
Julio Rodríguez singled in the third inning and has recorded a hit in each of his last five games. He is hitting .409 with four doubles, two home runs, five runs, and six RBI across the five-game stretch.
Pitcher Nick Davila made his Major League debut in the ninth inning and struck out Bobby Witt Jr. for his first MLB strikeout.