Perez and Isbel 2-run homers in the 6th inning power the Royals to a 7-4 win over the Nationals
Perez homered off rookie Cade Cavalli after Maikel Garcia drew a leadoff walk, tying the game at 4. Adam Frazier singled, chasing Cavalli, and Jackson Rutledge (1-2) entered and retired Randal Grichuk on a double-play grounder. Nick Loftin had a two-out single before scoring on Isbel's fourth homer. Perez's homer was his 21st.
James Wood walked leading off the first against Bailey Falter in his home debut for the Royals after being acquired from the Pirates at the trade deadline. Josh Bell hit his 15th homer — a 422-foot, two-out shot to left-center — to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
Garcia, Perez and Frazier had consecutive singles to start the second for the Royals' first run. Loftin's sacrifice fly tied it 2-all.
Falter left a tie game after four innings and 76 pitches. Wood singled off Daniel Lynch IV (4-2) leading off the fifth and Paul DeJong hit his fourth homer one out later to put the Nationals up 4-2.
Mike Yastrzemski added a run in the eighth with a sac fly. Frazier finished 3 for 4 and Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth for his 30th save.
Bobby Witt Jr. went 2 for 5 in his return to the Royals lineup after back tightness forced him to miss his second game of the season on Sunday.
Kansas City won the opener of a 10-game homestand and moved to 59-60 on the season.
Key moment
Isbel's go-ahead shot came after he popped out in foul territory on a 3-1 pitch with one out and runners on second and third in a tie game in the second inning.
Key stat
The Royals have scored 441 runs, fewest in the AL.
Up next
Nationals LHP Mitchell Parker (7-12, 5.43 ERA) will start Tuesday opposite Royals RHP Michael Wacha (6-9, 3.36).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Michael Busch's bases-clearing double
Michael Busch doubles to left field in the bottom of the 3rd inning to score Owen Caissie, Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UPDATED: Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler making perfect game bid facing Rays
TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked before Wednesday night's game against the Rays if the plan is to continue having rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler working five-innings starts. 'Just depends,' Boone said. 'If we can get him deep into a game, great. Those are decisions that kind of happen in the moment depending on the game and how it's unfolding and where you are.' A bid at making history was all it took. Making his seventh career start since a first MLB call-up on July 9, Schlittler was perfect through six innings in the Yankees' series finale against the Rays. The Yankees led the Rays 2-0 through five on the strength of two solo home runs, Trent Grisham's to lead off the game and Austin Wells' with one out in the fifth. Retiring 18 in a row, Schlittler's pitch count was at just 66 heading into the fifth inning, 51 of them strikes. Schittler threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 18 batters and fell behind 2-0 only in the fourth to Yandy Diaz, who strike out swinging on six pitches on a 98.6-mph fastball. He fanned six through six innings — one in each frame — and nobody came close to getting a hit. The Yankees took a quick 1-0 lead when Grisham homered off Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen before Schlitter began his mastery. Schlittler started his outing with Chandler Simpson striking out looking on three pitches, then he retired Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lower on flyballs in an 11-pitch inning. Heading into the game, Schilling was 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA. He worked five innings in four starts, a career-long 5.1 innings in his debut and 4.1 in another. 'I'm really encouraged by the way he continues to throw the ball,' Boone said. Here are other recent Yankees posts to check out: -- Austin Wells opens up on losing starts to Ben Rice: 'I get it ... (but) I'm one of the best catchers' -- Yankees reliever likely done for season with flexor strain -- Yankees add pitcher for series finale with Rays -- Yankees make prediction after 9-homer onslaught -- Yankees' 9 homers traveled almost a mile; Here's blow-by-blow -- Aaron Judge, Aaron Boone have difference of opinion on his throwing arm -- Yankees lose reliever to IL, another headed for MRI -- Yankees add impact bat to active roster ahead of Rays series -- Yankees added a hated pest, and now it's true love -- Why is Rob Manfred trying so hard to ruin MLB? | Klapisch --Why Doc Gooden won't ever cut his Yankees ties | Klapisch -- What Max Fried, Yankees make of his 6-week slump that just got worse -- Elton John has nothing on Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@
New York Times
7 minutes ago
- New York Times
Could Shohei Ohtani pitch in relief in October? Here's what it would take
DENVER — Is there a scenario where Shohei Ohtani is pitching in relief for the Los Angeles Dodgers this postseason? 'Absolutely,' pitching coach Mark Prior told the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday morning, though Prior clarified Wednesday afternoon that the discussions the organization has had about it have been limited solely to clarifying the language of the rulebook and Ohtani's ability to remain in the game as a hitter in such a scenario. Advertisement Major League Baseball's 'Ohtani Rule,' which was written for the 2022 season, specifies that a starting pitcher can remain in the game as a designated hitter even after being removed from the game as a pitcher. That does not apply the same way if the pitcher entered in relief; if Ohtani starts a game as a designated hitter and enters the game to pitch, removing him would mean taking him out of the game entirely and losing the designated hitter. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added Wednesday that the concept of Ohtani pitching in relief in October has come up 'internally, just sort of exploring options.' While Prior said on the program that the idea of Ohtani pitching in relief 'has been discussed,' those discussions, Prior said, came back in June as Ohtani was nearing his return to a big league mound. Ohtani had communicated to the organization that he would rather complete his build-up as a pitcher in big league games, so the team essentially had him start games as an opener while keeping his bat in the lineup. "Can I see it? Absolutely." 👀 – #Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior on the potential of Shohei Ohtani coming out of the bullpen during the postseason. — Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 20, 2025 'Maybe it was me asking the question because I didn't have a clear understanding of the moment,' Prior said. 'But if we're using him for one inning, let's use him as a starter. We were trying to talk about how does that play as a reliever. When you read the rulebook, as clear as the rulebook can be at times, he has to be in the lineup as a starter/DH.' The door remains open, regardless, that Ohtani could be used as a reliever at some point in October — it would just have to be in a situation where he would be recording the final outs of the game, such as to avoid the team removing his bat from the lineup. Advertisement 'I think at the end of the day if it gave us a chance to win a ballgame, whatever that added value, I think he would be all-in,' Prior said. 'Within reason. Because I do think he cares about winning ballgames. He cares about helping his team win on both sides of the baseball. So I think if it was presented in that situation, maybe he would. … Again, I don't know what that situation would be but in a kind of playoff, must-win, maybe that would.' Ohtani has only pitched one time in relief since coming over to MLB in 2018, and it wasn't in a big league game; he recorded the final three outs for Samurai Japan to close out the 2023 World Baseball Classic after starting the game as a designated hitter. 'There's still a lot of things we have to get to before it even becomes somewhat tangible,' Roberts said. Including, and most importantly, ensuring that Ohtani gets to October healthy as a starting pitcher, with the Dodgers right now essentially having their ideal group of postseason starting options all healthy between Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw. Also relevant is that Ohtani continues to look as formidable as he has on the mound as he has thus far in his return from a second major elbow surgery. Through his first nine starts (23 1/3 innings), he has a 3.47 ERA and has struck out 32 batters while walking just five. Among the measures the Dodgers have taken to monitor Ohtani, the pitcher, and his workload: while he's built up to five innings, he isn't expected to go any further than that, at least for the remainder of the regular season. Roberts and Prior each confirmed that is still the plan on Wednesday, before Ohtani was set to start on the mound against the Colorado Rockies. 'Right now it's five innings,' Prior said. 'Let's just continue to progress and keep getting him innings and starts and go from there. We'll have those discussions later on and Sho will have a lot of input on those decisions. But right now, it's five.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
