CLEVELAND -- When the Indians traded catcher Yan Gomes to the Nationals on Nov. 30, Tribe fans were ready to press the panic button, as the duties behind the plate were left to Roberto Perez, who slashed .168/.256/.263 in 62 games in 2018.

But if it was possible to give those fans a crystal ball that allowed them to look nearly seven months into the future, not many would believe that the results the backstop would have were enough to get him penciled in the lineup as a designated hitter on his day off from catcher.

In his 45th contest of ‘19, Perez launched his fourth home run in as many games and helped lift the Indians to an 8-4 victory over the Yankees on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field. In those four contests, he has hit .417 with seven RBIs and a 1.967 OPS. And after winning Friday’s opener against New York, 5-2, Cleveland secured its first series win over the Yankees since Aug. 28-30, 2017.

“It’s always nice when you have a good week like this, especially swinging the bat,” Perez said. “Just trying to take good at-bats. I’m trying to lay off that slider down and away, which early I was chasing that pitch a lot. Right now, I am swinging with confidence, just taking it pitch by pitch. Don’t try to do too much, try to put the ball in play and make something happen.”

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Although Perez’s two-run blast came in the sixth inning off reliever Jonathan Holder, the 30-year-old came inches from hitting another in the fourth. He launched a 1-0 pitch from Yankees’ starter CC Sabathia off the yellow lining at the top of the wall in center field that was confirmed to be a double by a crew-chief review. But Perez still logged his first RBI of the day, while the home run was waiting for it’s grand entrance two innings later.

“I thought it hit the railing,” Perez said. “I had that play happen to me before. But yeah, man, I’m not trying to hit homers. Like I’ve said, I’m just trying to go to the plate and have a great at-bat and to put the ball in play, and I’ve been lucky to hit homers.”

Just after Cleveland starter Adam Plutko finished up his night in the top of the sixth, he came into the dugout and talked to pitcher Shane Bieber about Perez’s sudden confidence at the plate this season.

“Bieber and I were talking about, like, 'Who is this guy, man? We don't even recognize him,'” Plutko said. “And as he hit it, Shane said, 'Yeah, I think he's just a lot more confident now.' As soon as he said ‘confident,’ the ball went over the fence. It couldn't have been better timing. It was just one of those weird things you put out into the ether. He's quite a power.”

Perez’s 447-foot blast to left set a career-high four-game home run streak, which is the longest for an Indians player since Mike Napoli homered in five straight contests from July 30-Aug. 3, 2016. It was also Perez’s 11th of the year, as he continues to shatter his previous career-high of eight.

“I mean, shoot, he’s swinging the bat really well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Like I said, what comes first? It’s easy to tell people to have confidence. I think it’s because he’s staying on the ball so much better. Like, I was really happy, even his last at-bat, he hit that line drive to right field. That allows him to do other things when he gets pitches he can handle.”

Perez’s long ball was just one of three on the afternoon for the Tribe, as rookie Oscar Mercado hit the third of his career in the fourth off Sabathia to tie the game at 2 and Plawecki added one of his own in the sixth off Holder.

Along with the run support, Plutko had solid defense behind him to help carry him through his two-run, six-inning outing. In the top of the sixth, right fielder Jordan Luplow robbed Brett Gardner of a hit, making a five-star catch. According to Statcast, the play had just a 20 percent catch probability, as Luplow had to cover 91 feet in 5.3 seconds.

“That completely changed the inning,” Plutko said. “He picked me up huge, where we're trying to shut down that inning after getting a lead, not trying to give them any life at all. If he doesn't catch that, all of sudden, they have a little bit of life. He caught it and changed the entire inning and maybe the entire game. That was huge.”