CHICAGO -- Salvador Perez couldn’t recall a time in his 12-year Major League career when he was booed.
Whether or not Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the White Sox was truly the first occurrence for the beloved Royals catcher, it happened. And it had many at Guaranteed Rate Field confused.
Well, at least those on the playing surface.
“That was my first time,” Perez said of the reception White Sox fans gave him in the first inning. “Everybody asked me about that. Even the umpire, Phil [Cuzzi], behind home plate tonight was like, ‘Why’d they boo you?’”
Perez drew the ire of Chicago fans during a home run trot, when he gestured and directed a few words toward the White Sox dugout. But as he explained after the game, it was just good-natured fun between him and White Sox infielder Elvis Andrus.
During his first-inning plate appearance against Lucas Giolito, Perez checked his swing on an 0-2 slider down and away. The pitch was called a ball, and Andrus and a few others on the White Sox bench playfully told him he went around.
“Elvis Andrus, Billy Hamilton and Eloy Jiménez were there talking to me,” Perez said. “Like, ‘swing, swing,’ on the check swing. ‘He did it, check, check.’ You know, just playing with me.”
Three pitches later, Perez sent another slider from Giolito over the left-field fence for a solo home run. A few steps before he reached the first-base bag, he turned around and gestured toward the White Sox dugout.
As he was rounding second base, Perez looked back toward the Sox dugout and gestured again. A smile flashed across his face, and he offered some words as boos came down from Chicago fans.
Perez stressed after the game he meant no malice toward the White Sox, Giolito or manager Pedro Grifol -- with whom he shares a close relationship from their time with the Royals -- and that he was just messing around with Andrus.
“We always play,” Perez said. “It’s something between him and me. It’s nothing personal, nothing for the White Sox. Nothing for the players. He likes to talk, and we play around. He did the same thing when he was in Kansas City.
“I like his energy. Also, Pedro knows me, everybody. Tim Anderson told me that Andrus talks too much. [Yoán] Moncada, everybody says the same thing. It’s good when you’ve got a guy like that, with a lot of energy, on your team. It’s good.”
That homer kick-started a strong afternoon by Perez, who was in the lineup as the Royals’ designated hitter. He finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double and a single.
It also continued his reign of terror against Giolito, whom Perez has had as much success against as any hitter in baseball. No player has more hits (16), home runs (5) or RBIs (11) off Giolito than Perez, who entered the day 13-for-34 in his career against the right-hander -- good for a .382/.382/.824 slash line. He got a hit in all three of their matchups Saturday.
“Salvy is a good ballplayer, man,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s no accident he's been doing this for 12, 13 years. He loves to play. He wants to get better. He wants to win. He's a pro. I mean, there are not enough accolades to spread on him.”
“I just try to do my job when any pitcher is on the mound,” Perez said. “I just try to do my job, try to hit the ball, try to swing at some strikes. He threw some pretty good sliders today. I think I chased a couple of sliders down and away. The homer was [on a] 3-2 [count]. I think he didn’t want to walk me. He threw one for a strike, and I hit it pretty good.”
The rest of the Kansas City lineup had a quiet afternoon offensively, going a combined 4-for-28 with eight strikeouts. The Royals went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and Giolito finished his outing with one run allowed over six innings.
Perez, though, continues to make life tough on the White Sox starter.
“With Salvy, it’s funny,” Giolito said. “He’s owned me over the course of our careers, and to me, it’s like some days I strike him out two or three times in three at-bats, and other days it’s like, homer, double, double. It was one of those days.”