MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Royals this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Royals Stat of the Day, August 2021

Oct. 3: Twins 7, Royals 3 -- Whitnessing history
Earlier this season, Whit Merrifield broke the Royals' record for consecutive games played and ended 2021 having played 469 games in a row, the most since Prince Fielder played in 547 straight games from Sept. 14, 2010-May 16, 2014.

Merrifield also hit leadoff in every game this season, becoming the fifth player to start and bat leadoff in 162 games (or more) in a single season, joining Maury Wills, who did so in 164 games in 1962, Dave Cash, who did it in 162 games in 1974 and 1975, Pete Rose, who did it for 162 in 1975 and Ichiro Suzuki, who did it over 162 in 2010.

Oct. 2: Twins 4, Royals 0 -- Lopez comes up short
Nicky Lopez was caught attempting to steal a base for the first time this season in the fourth inning. Lopez's streak of 22 consecutive stolen bases tied Alcides Escobar (2013) for the franchise season record for most steals without being caught.

Oct. 1: Royals 11, Twins 6 -- Gallagher filling in nicely
Catcher Cam Gallagher has done a bang-up job subbing in for Salvador Perez behind the plate ever since Perez sprained his right ankle a few days ago. That's to be expected with his catching skills, but his bat has come around, too. Gallagher had an RBI single and an RBI bunt single on Friday night, marking his third multi-hit effort in the last three days, a stretch in which he’s raised his season batting average 35 points from .204 to .239. The three-game multi-hit streak is the longest of his career.

Sept. 30: Indians 6, Royals 1 -- KC makes history with 3 Z's
The Royals etched their name in alphabetical history in their season finale against Cleveland. With Angel Zerpa, Tyler Zuber and Kyle Zimmer all taking the mound at Kauffman Stadium in the home whites, the Royals became the first team in AL/NL history to use three pitchers whose last name begins with a Z in the same game. Prior to Thursday, no team had used more than two, including the 2021 and '20 Royals with Zuber and Zimmer. The last team to feature two before Zuber and Zimmer last season was the 2012 Diamondbacks, with Mike Zagurski and Brad Ziegler.

Sept. 29: Royals 10, Indians 5 -- 40/40 again for Whit
Whit Merrifield wasted no time hitting his 40th double of the season Wednesday night. He led off the bottom of the first inning with a two-bagger to go along with his American League-leading 40 steals, marking the third 40-double, 40-steal season in Royals history and his second of his career (2018). Johnny Damon also achieved the feat in 2000.

Merrifield is just the seventh player in Major League history with multiple 40-double, 40-steal seasons, joining Brian Roberts (2007 and '08), Hanley Ramirez ('06 and '07), Alfonso Soriano ('02 and '06), George Sisler (1920 and 1922), Tris Speaker (1912 and 1914) and Ty Cobb (1911 and 1917).

Sept. 28: Royals 6, Indians 4 -- Comeback kids
With the series-opening win, Kansas City recorded its 38th comeback victory of the season and the 10th after trailing by at least three runs. The Royals trailed, 3-0, in the first inning, marking the sixth time this season they have won despite allowing three runs (or more) in the first inning. That's the most in the Majors, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, one more than the Mets.

Sept. 27: Indians 8, Royals 3 -- Salvy adding up RBIs
Salvador Perez entered the makeup game tied for the Major League home run lead with 46, but with all those homers come RBIs, too. He extended his MLB lead in RBIs with two in a 2-for-4 day. Perez, now with 117, recorded multiple RBIs in a game for the 33rd time this season -- snapping a five-game drought without an RBI -- and he has four more RBIs than White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu (113) with six games left to play in the regular season.

Sept. 26: Royals 2, Tigers 1 -- Benintendi hot in September
Andrew Benintendi's sinking liner to right field off of Tigers starter Wily Peralta plated Whit Merrifield with the game's first run in the first inning of the finale. The knock marked Benintendi's 24th RBI in September, giving him the most in any month of his six-year Major League career.

Sept. 25: Tigers 5, Royals 1 -- Dozier continues to rake
Hunter Dozier's fifth-inning sacrifice fly brought home the Royals' lone run, but it wasn't the only contribution he made during the night as he finished 2-for-3 with a double and a triple. He nearly added a homer to his line, but Tigers left fielder Akil Baddoo skied high to rob his 369-foot drive with a leap over the outfield fence in the third inning.

The performance marked Dozier's 10th multi-extra-base-hit game of the season and his third multi-hit outing in his past seven games. The ninth-inning triple was Dozier's fifth this year, tying him with Nicky Lopez for team best.

Sept. 24: Royals 3, Tigers 1 -- Bullpen continues tear
Domingo Tapia (1 ER, 1 IP), Jake Brentz (0 ER, 2/3 IP), Josh Staumont (0 ER, 1 1/3 IP) and Scott Barlow (0 ER, 1 IP) strung together another four spectacular frames in starter Carlos Hernández's wake. Kansas City's relief corps now has a combined 3.35 ERA since the All-Star break, tied for second in the American League with the Tigers and trailing only the Rays (3.25)

Sept. 21: Indians 4, Royals 1 -- Can't spell 'Whit' without 'hit'
They don't call Whit Merrifield "Two-hit Whit" for nothing. With singles in the first and seventh innings against the Indians, Merrifield notched his team-high 46th multihit game of the season and the 252nd of his career. That is one game shy of tying Johnny Damon for 15th in club history.

Sept. 20: Royals 7, Indians 2 (Game 1); Royals 4, Indians 2 (Game 2) -- Salvy makes history
Not only did Salvador Perez make AL/NL history in Game 1 when he passed Johnny Bench for the most home runs in a season (46) by a primary catcher, but he also made Royals history. The veteran catcher moved into sole possession of second place on the club's all-time home run leaderboard with his 198th jack, passing Mike Sweeney (197). Now, Perez only trails George Brett's 317 home runs as a Royal. Perez's 25 homers after the All-Star break are the most in the Majors, five more than Joey Votto's 20, and Perez is two home runs shy of tying the Royals' single-season record (Jorge Soler hit 48 in 2019).

Sept. 19: Royals 7, Mariners 1 -- Taylor leads in assists
It was an interesting choice for the Mariners' Jake Fraley to run on Michael A. Taylor in the fifth inning, when he tagged up and tried to advance on Jake Bauers' flyout. Instead, Taylor recorded his 11th outfield assist of the season, giving him four more than any other center fielder in the Majors and the most by a Royals center fielder since Melky Cabrera had 12 in 2011.

Sept. 18: Royals 8, Mariners 1 -- Lopez stretches streak
Nicky Lopez's infield single in the fourth inning -- as part of his 2-for-5 night -- extended his career-best on-base streak to 27 games since Aug. 21. In that span, he's hitting .377 (43-for-114). Lopez's on-base streak is the longest by a Royals player since Whit Merrifield's franchise-record 31-game hit streak from Sept. 10, 2018, to April 10, 2019.

Sept. 17: Mariners 6, Royals 2 -- Dozier heating up
Hunter Dozier's opposite-field home run in the bottom of the seventh inning brought his average to .321 over his last eight games since Sept. 1, a stretch that comes on the heels of a .140 skid in his previous 15 games. Eight of Dozier's last nine hits have gone for extra bases, including five doubles and three home runs. Of his 13 home runs this season, eight have come at Kauffman Stadium and five have come in the seventh inning or later.

Sept. 16: Athletics 7, Royals 2 -- Isbel's 4-star catch
Kyle Isbel hasn't had many chances in Kauffman Stadium's expansive center field yet, but he's made the most of his few opportunities. On Chad Pinder's long fly ball to the right-center-field wall in the second inning, Isbel made a four-star catch. With a catch probability of 35 percent, Isbel had 6.4 seconds to go 121 feet, reaching a sprint speed of 28.3 feet per second, according to Statcast. Isbel is filling in for Michael A. Taylor, who is on the family medical emergency list, and has looked comfortable in center.

Sept. 15: Athletics 12, Royals 10 -- Benintendi's 5-hit hat trick
Andrew Benintendi's five hits against the A's matched a career high for the outfielder, a feat he previously accomplished on April 13, 2017, and July 4, 2017, while with Boston. He became the first Royal with a five-hit game since Whit Merrifield on July 8, 2018, and in his past seven games, he's batting .613 (19-for-31) with 17 RBIs (stats that helped him win AL Player of the Week honors). His 19 hits in that span are the most by a Royal in a seven-game span since Johnny Damon had 19 from July 16-22, 2000.

Sept. 14: Royals 10, Athletics 7 -- Happy birthday, indeed!
Jake Brentz came in to record a scoreless sixth inning in the Royals' win over the A's, earning his fifth win of the season in the process. It was his 27th birthday, making Brentz the third Royal to pitch on his birthday this season. He joined reliever Domingo Tapia on Aug. 4 (his 30th birthday) in Chicago against the White Sox and starter Brad Keller on July 27 (his 26th birthday) at home vs. the White Sox. Brentz is the the seventh Royals pitcher -- and fourth reliever -- in 53 seasons to earn a win on his birthday, and the first since Foster Griffin on July 27, 2020, at Detroit.

Sept. 12: Royals 5, Twins 3 -- Benintendi a road warrior
Andrew Benintendi, who has been on a tear all week during the Royals' seven-game road trip through Baltimore and Minnesota, recorded the fourth multihit effort in his last five games. He finished the week 14-for-29 with six extra-base hits. His sacrifice fly in the ninth inning marked his 14th RBI of the road trip, which matches the franchise record for most RBIs on a road trip of seven games or fewer, according to Royals PR. Jeff King had 14 RBIs on a seven-game trip in 1997, and Kendrys Morales had 14 on a six-game trip in 2016.

Sept. 11: Twins 9, Royals 2 -- Benny booming on road trip
There is no stopping Andrew Benintendi at Target Field. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI single on Saturday night, marking his sixth RBI of the series and 13th of the road trip. In the first six games of the seven-game road trip, Benintendi is hitting 12-for-24 (.500) with six extra-base hits (three doubles and three homers), four runs scored and four multi-hit efforts.

Sept. 10: Royals 6, Twins 4 -- Nicky's streak lives on
Nicky Lopez has done it all lately for the Royals, and Friday night was no different. The shortstop made a couple of key defensive plays, including snagging a line drive that would have been the walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Twins, and laid it out offensively. He extended his career-best on-base streak to 20 games with a one-out double in the first inning. His 20-game on-base streak is the longest by a Royal since Jorge Soler’s 25-game run from Sept. 14, 2019-Aug. 3, 2020. Lopez also extended his hitting streak to seven games, a stretch in which he's hitting .438 (14-for-32).

Sept. 9: Royals 6, Orioles 0 -- Alberto's first with two walks
Hanser Alberto walked in his first two plate appearances in the series finale. In his 373rd career game, the pair of walks, one in the second inning and one in the fifth, marked his first career multi-walk game.

Sept. 8: Orioles 9, Royals 8 -- Whit is KC's running man
Whit Merrifield stole his 40th base of the season, swiping third for an MLB-best 16th time this season and scoring on a throwing error after hitting a double in the third inning. He is the fourth in franchise history with multiple 40-plus stolen bases in a season (he had 45 in 2018) and it marks the 24th season a Royal has recorded at least 40 steals.

Sept. 7: Orioles 7, Royals 3 -- Lopez keeps rolling
With a single in the first inning, Nicky Lopez extended his on-base streak to a career-high 17 games dating to Aug. 21. Lopez, who added an RBI single in the third, is tied with Carlos Santana (May 6-25) for the longest such streak by a Royals hitter this season.

Sept. 6: Royals 3, Orioles 2 -- Mondesi snags two ... again!
After entering in the ninth inning as a pinch-runner, Adalberto Mondesi stole second, then stole third for his sixth and seventh stolen bases of the year. The performance marked his 25th career game with multiple stolen bases and his second in as many days, making him the first Royal with multiple stolen bases in consecutive games since he last did it on Sept. 24-25, 2020. He owns each of the last three such instances by Kansas City baserunners. It was also Mondesi's career-high fourth straight game with at least one stolen base.

Sept. 5: Royals 6, White Sox 0 -- Royals vs. first-place teams
The Royals don't have the kind of overall record they want this season, at 61-75 after Sunday's win, but they've performed well against good teams all season long. Sunday's victory brought them to 20-16 against division leaders this season, breaking a tie with the Yankees (19-13) for the most such wins in the Majors. They've beat the AL Central-leading White Sox 10 times, the most wins against Chicago by any team in the Majors.

Sept. 4: White Sox 10, Royals 7 -- Santana snaps HR skid
Carlos Santana has been mired in a tough slump at the plate recently, but perhaps his solo home run on Saturday is a sign of things to come. The rocket of a homer in the sixth inning was his first dinger since July 24 against the Tigers, snapping a drought of 130 at-bats and 34 games. That's the second-longest skid of his career, trailing a 40-game stretch from May 16-July 17, 2012.

Sept. 3: Royals 7, White Sox 2 -- Salvy moving up hits list
With two hits on Friday night against the White Sox, Salvador Perez first matched and then passed his former teammate Eric Hosmer for 10th all-time in Royals history for hits. Perez's single in the fifth inning was his 1,133rd career base hit (all with the Royals). Next on the list for Perez to catch is Alcides Escobar, who had 1,208 hits for the Royals from 2011-18.

Sept. 2: Indians 4, Royals 2 -- Royals can't solve Cleveland
The Royals were swept for the 11th time this season with Thursday's loss to Cleveland, which has had Kansas City's number all season. It was the Royals' 11th consecutive loss to their American League Central foe, their longest such skid vs. Cleveland in franchise history. It's their longest losing streak against one opponent since losing 12 straight against Texas from July 23, 2016 to July 15, 2017. They also dropped to 2-15 in their last 17 games at Kauffman Stadium against the Indians since July 2019.

Sept. 1: Indians 5, Royals 3 (11) -- Mondi has power, wheels
Adalberto Mondesi returned to the Royals' lineup following a lengthy stint on the IL, and did so in style. Mondesi singled in his first at-bat, later stealing third and coming in to score on an errant throw. In his next trip to the plate, Mondesi cranked a towering solo homer to center field, marking his first homer in 75 days, but just two games. His performance moved him into fourth place on the Royals' all-time list of most games with a homer and steal with 15, trailing Carlos Beltrán (25), Amos Otis (21) and George Brett (16). Mondesi is also second in MLB for most games with a homer and steal since 2018 at 14, trailing only Christian Yelich (16).