Salvador Perez’s 2 homers help Royals edge Pirates

Salvador Perez went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs to propel the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Perez’s second homer broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning, helping the Royals complete the three-game sweep and extend the club’s winning streak to four.
Kris Bubic allowed three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings for Kansas City, striking out six and walking two. Rookie Jac Caglianone demolished a two-run homer to center field in the win.
Lucas Erceg (4-2) threw a perfect eighth for Kansas City, while closer Carlos Estevez worked around a one-out single in the ninth to seal the win and earn his 25th save of the season.
Bailey Falter allowed three runs and six hits in his 4 2/3-inning stint, while striking out three and walking two for Pittsburgh. Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in a pair of runs and Tommy Pham went 3-for-4 for the Pirates, who dropped their sixth straight game. Isaac Mattson (2-1) surrendered two hits — including Perez’s eighth-inning homer — and a walk.
Kansas City struck first in the bottom of the second, as Perez turned around Falter’s first-pitch sinker with his 12th home run of the season — a 444-foot solo shot with no outs.
After Maikel Garcia doubled to begin the fourth, Falter retired Perez before surrendering Caglianone’s 466-foot, two-run shot, which extended the Royals’ lead to 3-0.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Falter was replaced by Braxton Ashcraft, who threw 2 1/3 scoreless frames.
Pham singled to begin the sixth for Pittsburgh, before Andrew McCutchen walked and Bryan Reynolds singled to load the bases. Bubic retired Nick Gonzales before Oneil Cruz’s run-scoring groundout plated the Pirates’ first run. Hayes then laced a two-run single to knot the score, forcing Bubic to be relieved by John Schreiber.