KANSAS CITY -- As the Royals celebrated Saturday's dramatic 8-7 win over the White Sox, which was fueled by a spectacular seven-run rally in the ninth inning, their spirits were tempered by the injury to All-Star catcher and team leader Salvador Perez.
Perez collided with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert in the top of the ninth inning as they pursued a foul pop. Perez called for the ball, but Cuthbert didn't hear him in time and slammed full force into Perez's left leg.
Perez had to be helped off the field, as he was barely able to put weight on the leg.

After the game, manager Ned Yost said Perez suffered a quad contusion and was to undergo an MRI.
"We're going to MRI him tonight to see the extent of what it is," Yost said. "We won't get results until tomorrow, but at least we'll see what we got.
"You're always nervous, especially when you lose two All-Stars; you don't want to lose a third. But we'll just see what the MRI shows."
Last Sunday, also against the White Sox, All-Star left fielder Alex Gordon and All-Star third baseman Mike Moustakas collided while chasing a foul pop at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Gordon fractured the scaphoid bone near his wrist and will be out three or four weeks. Moustakas tore the ACL in his right knee and is lost for the season.
Yost bristled at the notion that Perez's injury could be season-ending.
"No!" he said. "The good thing about it, at least as far as we could tell, there was no structural damage to his knee. He sustained a pretty good quad contusion."
Worst-case scenario?
"If he's got a lot of blood in there, it's probably a DL thing," Yost said.
If Perez is a candidate for the disabled list, the Royals do have veteran Tony Cruz at Triple-A Omaha. The Royals acquired Cruz in a trade over the winter.
Cuthbert also had a mild quad contusion from the collision and is day to day.
"It's just one of those situations where, you don't want to put blame on anybody, but that wouldn't have happened with [Moustakas]," Yost said. "Because they've played together so long, and [Moustakas] knows what Salvy's capabilities are, and Ches just put his head down and came hard. It's kind of unfortunate, but we'll just see where we end up."