Royals' Salvador Perez hits 200th career home run in win over Guardians

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Salvador Perez became the 10th player in major league history to hit 200 homers as a catcher and Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run in six innings, lifting the Kansas City Royals to a 5-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.

Perez hit a two-run shot in the sixth off Logan Allen (4-3) to put Kansas City ahead 4-0. He has 240 total home runs in 12 seasons, all with the Royals. Hall of Famer Mike Piazza holds the big league record for homers as a catcher with 396.

"Every time we win and I hit a homer, I feel better," said Perez, who didn't know about the milestone until afterward. "I like to compete every day and do my best."

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Kansas City Royals Salvador Perez, right, celebrates his home run with teammate Bobby Witt Jr. (7) in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, July 24, 2023, in Cleveland.  (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Yarbrough (3-5), who carried a shutout into the sixth, won at Cleveland for the second time in 15 days. The left-hander struck out one and didn’t issue a walk in his third start since being struck on the face by a liner from Oakland’s Ryan Noda on May 7.

"The Guardians are an aggressive team, but don’t strike out much, so I tried to put them in positions where they had to swing the bat," Yarbrough said. "I wanted to control what I could control."

Edward Olivares had a two-run double and Maikel Garcia hit a solo homer for Kansas City, which ended a five-game skid and has the second-worst record in baseball (29-73). Scott Barlow gave up two hits in the ninth before retiring Myles Straw and Steven Kwan to pick up his 12th