KANSAS CITY -- Salvador Perez was worried about the way his neck felt when he arrived at the ballpark on Saturday afternoon. After getting hit with a bounced pitch on Friday and exiting the game a few innings later, followed by having trouble breathing all night, Perez didn’t think he could catch Saturday night -- and questioned whether he should play at all.

Once he was switched to designated hitter in the lineup, and encouraged by bench coach Pedro Grifol to relax in the dugout instead of trying to help call games like he typically does when he’s the DH, Perez felt better about playing.

• Perez climbing catcher HR leaderboard

It ended up being a milestone night for the Royals slugger.

Perez launched his 39th and 40th home runs of the season in the Royals’ 10-7 loss to the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, adding another historic game to his career-best campaign. It was Perez’s sixth multihomer game of the season and brought him within eight home runs of tying the Royals’ single-season home run record of 48, set by Jorge Soler in 2019 -- with 27 games left. Perez also joined the short list of catchers to hit 40 or more home runs in a season.

“I was scared [Friday],” Perez said. “When you talk about your neck or something like that, it’s scary. I had never gotten hit like that before. But... good thing I ended up in the lineup. You never know when a good thing is going to happen. That’s why I like to play, like to be in there every day.

“You never know when the good things are going to come. If you’re ready to play, enjoy it and play hard because you never know [what’s] going to happen.”

Perez’s 40 home runs now rank second in the Majors this season, three behind American League MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani. Perez is making a case for some of those MVP votes himself this year, too.

“I see a great hitter,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I see a hitter that has to be talked about as one of if not the most dangerous hitter in the league. And how he’s going about these at-bats and doing it in big situations. One of those days where you think, ‘Are we going to give him a day here, is the throat thing going to need a day of rest?’

“Next thing you know, he does something that continues to amaze us.”

After the Royals got on the board in the third inning, Perez crushed a two-run homer to straightaway center for his 39th of the season. That brought the Royals within three of the White Sox, who had built a six-run lead off starter Daniel Lynch in 2 2/3 innings -- the shortest start for the lefty since he was recalled in late July.

“We all know how much we need him, and he probably feels that way, too,” said Lynch, who had a cut on his index finger that led to his short start.

The 428-foot shot was Perez’s 191st of his career, breaking a tie with his longtime teammate and friend, Alex Gordon, for fourth all-time on the Royals' home run list.

The Royals were down 9-3 in the fifth when Whit Merrifield and Nicky Lopez knocked back-to-back two-out singles, bringing Perez to the plate. Chicago reliever Michael Kopech threw a 98.8 mph fastball at Perez’s hands, yet he yanked a moonshot over the left-field fence.

That 389-foot blast was Perez’s 192nd of his career, bringing him one shy of Amos Otis’ 193 home runs for third in Royals history.

“A lot,” Perez said when asked what 40 home runs means to him. “A lot. I know the hard work that I put in last offseason. From October to the last day before I flew to Arizona for Spring Training. … I never think that I can do what I’m doing right now. I’m blessed to be doing what I’m doing right now.”

Perez is so locked in that White Sox manager Tony La Russa brought in reliever Craig Kimbrel in the seventh to potentially face Perez, who was due up fourth. If anyone got on for Perez -- and Lopez singled to do just that -- La Russa wanted Kimbrel, who has a 1.98 ERA this season as one of the best relievers in baseball, to face the Royals’ best hitter.

“Craig had to be the guy to face him,” La Russa said. “So, a lot of theater to that inning and what Salvador did [with] those two homers made that game a very tough one for us to win. That was the inning of decision.”

Kimbrel fed Perez a steady stream of breaking balls to strike him out swinging and end the inning.

Perez, 31, has 99 RBIs this season and is on pace for 119, which would be the most by any player who played at least 75 percent of his games at catcher since Mike Piazza had 124 RBIs in 1999. And it would be the most by any American League player who caught at least 75 percent of his games since Yogi Berra had 125 RBIs in '54.

“To be able to do that while taking such a beating behind the plate and be the kind of player he’s been all season long,” Matheny said, “we’re witnessing something very special.”