By MATT PIKE
Salvador Perez hit a clutch two RBI double, Luinder Avile went five strong innings, and the Kansas City Royals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Kauffman Stadium
Before the game, the Royals inducted former player, coach, and manager John Wathan into the organization’s Hall of Fame. He played 10 seasons in the majors and won the 1985 World Series with Kansas City. Once the game started, Avila, who improved to 4-3 on the season with the win, held Philadelphia to one run in five innings. He had four strikeouts and one walk.
The Royals opened the scoring early, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning when Lane Thomas knocked a two-out double to right-center field driving in Bobby Witt Jr. Michael Massey followed Thomas's double with an RBI single to score him for a 2-0 lead, which Kansas City held until the fifth inning.
The Phillies scored in the fifth inning when Bryson Stott extended his on-base streak to 12 games with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Rincones Jr. Avila left after the next out. In the bottom half of the inning, Isaac Collins led off with a double after successfully challenging a third-strike call for the second time in the game for the Royals. He scored on a sacrifice fly to center from Jac Caglianone to put Kansas City back up by two runs 3-1.
Stott struck again in the seventh with a leadoff single. He advanced on a fielder’s choice and throwing error, then scored on another force out. But, Perez sealed the game for the Royals with a two-run double in the eighth inning that scored Witt Jr. and Thomas. Witt Jr set up the score after walking to lead off the inning, and stealing his 30th base of the season with one out. Witt has stolen at least 30 bases in all five of his major league seasons.
Alex Lange earned his eighth save of the season pitching a clean ninth inning. At the plate, Witt Jr was 2-for-3 walking once with two runs scored and a stolen base. Collins was 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base also scoring a run. Thomas was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, a RBI, and two runs scored.
Kansas City and Philadelphia wrap up their series tomorrow. Noah Cameron (4-6, 4.95 ERA, 75K's) is set to take the mound for the Royals against PHillies ace Christopher Sánchez (10-3, 2.00 ERA, 136K's). First pitch will be joined at 1:10pm on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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