Salvy says all systems go for pivotal Game 5
KANSAS CITY -- Royals catcher Salvador Perez had an eventful 24-hour period in Houston starting with a minor car crash he was involved in on Sunday night. Perez was not injured.
But during the Royals' 9-6 win on Monday that forced a Game 5 in the American League Division Series on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1), Perez took a pretty good beating.
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First, Perez got drilled in the face mask with a foul tip, a blow so hard it knocked his mask off and left him jarred for several minutes. Later, Perez was hit in the left arm by a pitch and exited the game.
But Perez said on Tuesday that he is fine and will definitely play on Wednesday.
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"Of course, of course," Perez said. "If I had to play today, I'd catch today, too. They told me to hit [during Tuesday's workout], and I feel great. I'm OK."
Perez said he did have a concussion test. The Royals confirmed Perez passed a concussion test on the field as well as one in the clubhouse.
"I did a concussion test after I got hit (in the face mask)," he said. "I passed everything great."
Don't ask
Injured closer Greg Holland was still shaking his head on Tuesday about the Royals' incredible come-from-behind victory on Monday.
Holland, whose right arm is in a cast after having Tommy John surgery, said there's no explanation for rallies like that.
"Sometimes you just don't ask why and just enjoy the moment," Holland said.
Ned's mindset
Royals manager Ned Yost again tried to explain how his mindset is different this season as opposed to last season.
"Well, again, our focus this year -- last year our focus was different," he said. "We wanted to break a 29-year spell of not making it to the playoffs. And I felt like the [AL] Wild Card Game really wouldn't mean anything, just making the Wild Card Game, if we didn't win.
"When we won, I felt like, OK, we accomplished our goal. We wanted to get to the playoffs. And we eventually took it all the way to the World Series. But for me that was kind of like a bonus.
"This year it's a different story. A minor goal, I guess you could say, was we wanted to win the [AL Central] division. We really did. But our ultimate goal was to win the World Series and anything short of that is going to be a goal unaccomplished."