KANSAS CITY -- The belt ripped as Salvador Perez was sliding into second base during his third of four doubles across two games on Thursday, and a short pause in game action allowed Perez to switch out the busted belt for a new one.
Soon after, the broken belt was hanging in the dugout, and the Royals were finishing off a doubleheader sweep over the Rockies. After picking up Game 1 starter Cole Ragans in their 7-4 win, the Royals piled on in Game 2 with a 6-2 victory.
Thursday gave the Royals their first series sweep of the season and their fourth consecutive victory on the heels of a six-game losing streak.
Perez thinks Ragans was the one to hang the broken belt up in the dugout.
A good luck charm, maybe -- or just a symbol of Perez¡¯s great doubleheader day.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Perez said, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m too heavy.¡±
Or Bobby Witt Jr.¡¯s perspective: ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you¡¯re that fast. The friction of the dirt and everything just breaks it.¡±
Sure, we can go with Witt¡¯s very scientific answer. Whatever the case, it¡¯s hard to argue with Perez¡¯s results Thursday: He roped four doubles on the day, went 5-for-8 with a walk, recorded four RBIs and scored three runs.
¡°It¡¯s huge,¡± Game 2 starter Michael Lorenzen said after he tossed six strong innings while only allowing one run. ¡°For him to do that and lead the way, you feel like things are changing a little bit.¡±
And perhaps they are. The Royals have been in an offensive funk lately. Entering Thursday, they hadn¡¯t scored more than four runs in a game since April 4, a streak of 17 games.
But now they¡¯ve done so in back-to-back games -- and all on the same day.
Perez said Royals hitters talked when they got back from Detroit following the 2-8 road trip and reminded themselves to get back to what they do best.
¡°Early in the season, we¡¯re just trying to do too much,¡± Perez said. ¡°And it¡¯s not going to work that way. You need to keep the line moving. Get what they give to me -- if it¡¯s a walk, take the base, and let the guy behind me do his job.¡±
Even Perez, a 34-year-old veteran of 14 seasons, can fall into that trap. He entered Thursday slashing just .135/.235/.293, and his ninth-inning single on Tuesday night broke an 0-for-12 slide.
¡°I don¡¯t like to start the way I started the season,¡± Perez said. ¡°But it¡¯s a long season, too. You just need to do your routine every day, prepare yourself to play the game and to play hard, and see what happens. You know how hard the game is.
¡°Sometimes you¡¯re going to be up, sometimes you¡¯re going to be down. But yeah, I feel good right now. It made me feel better, especially that we won both games. Even better.¡±
Days like Thursday certainly help. Two of Perez¡¯s doubles came in Game 1, along with a walk. Two more doubles came in Game 2, along with a single. The broken-belt fiasco happened on his first double in Game 2, when he crushed a ball to the left-field wall and then had to slide into second base to avoid being thrown out.
After switching out belts, Perez moved to third on Maikel Garcia¡¯s groundout and scored on Michael Massey¡¯s sacrifice fly.
¡°He was getting around the bases today quicker than I¡¯ve ever seen him go around,¡± Witt said of Perez. ¡°He had an extra pep in his step ...
"He¡¯s the middle of the lineup. He¡¯s the heart and soul of the lineup. Whenever he¡¯s going, it¡¯s fun to watch. And when he gets hot, it¡¯s scorching.¡±
Witt knocked two hits in each game to extend his hit streak to a career-best 16 games. The Royals saw contributions from Massey and Hunter Renfroe, both of whom have been struggling, as well as a solid Game 2 from Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit an RBI single and walked against Rockies starter Chase Dollander.
Now, the Royals (12-14) are only two games under .500 as they prepare to welcome the Astros to Kauffman Stadium this weekend.
¡°Winning is going to bolster the mood more than just offense, and that¡¯s what makes these guys a good team, is that they don¡¯t care if it¡¯s 1-0 or 2-1 or 10-9,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°There¡¯s no finger pointing when you win one way or the other. I think that¡¯s what¡¯s most important.¡±