KANSAS CITY – There’s a new king at Kauffman Stadium.
Salvador Perez’s solo home run in the sixth inning of the Royals’ 14-6 series-opening win over the Cardinals was his 137th at The K, breaking a tie with George Brett for the most hit in the 54-year history of this ballpark.
Across Perez’s 14 seasons playing here, he’s sprayed balls all over the field. His milestone homer went a Statcast-projected 385 feet to the left-field corner on a sweeper from Cardinals rookie reliever Max Rajcic, who was making his MLB debut.
And during Perez’s next at-bat, the Kauffman Stadium faithful gave him a standing ovation. He recognized the moment, tipped his helmet to the crowd and ripped a single into right field for his third hit of the night.
“That was super exciting,” Perez said. “I feel like Kauffman is my second home. I appreciate the fans. Thank you for your support my whole career. I’m not done yet. I got a lot more.”
The Royals hope so, because there’s no one who means more to this team and organization than Perez. It had been 16 games since his last homer on May 25 against the Yankees, and it’s been a challenging year overall for the 36-year-old catcher, who is hitting .207 with a .592 OPS. But he’s chasing history in 2026 as he continues to put the finishing touches on what could be a Hall of Fame career whenever he does decide to hang up his cleats.
“What else can you say about the guy?” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Everything he does is another milestone. … The guy’s a legend.”
Most of the Royals dugout knew Perez needed just one more for the record, so when that ball dropped over the fence, his teammates erupted in joy. While there’s lingering concern surrounding Bobby Witt Jr.’s exit with right knee soreness, there’s nothing like celebrating a milestone, and the Royals were happy to celebrate their captain – and one of the best Royals to ever do it – in a big win.
“All those fountain shots, all the huge homers he’s hit here,” said rookie catcher Carter Jensen, a Kansas City native. “I got chills watching the ovation. To have a role model like him is special. Him being my favorite player growing up is that little extra cherry on top, because I watched him do it as a kid. Now I’m watching him do it as a teammate of his. It’s a lot of fun.”
Brett has held the Kauffman Stadium record for homers outright since passing Amos Otis on Aug. 24, 1985. Now that Perez holds that record, he’s one step closer to the next Brett record he’s chasing. Thursday’s blast was Perez’s 313th career home run, putting him just four home runs away from tying Brett for the all-time franchise home run record (317) and five away from surpassing the greatest Royal of all time.
When Perez catches Brett, he will become only the third active player to own his current team’s all-time home run record, joining Mike Trout (421 with the Angels) and Manny Machado (206 with the Padres).
“I don’t like to think about that,” Perez said. “But I see it, a lot on social media, a lot of people tell me about it. I just go to the plate trying to do my best and trying to help my team to win. … Early this season, I’ve been struggling a little bit. The numbers are right there. I just make an adjustment every day. I like to compete. I like to prepare myself. I’m going to give everything I have to be better at the home plate right now, especially like tonight.”
Perez was the one to start the offensive outburst with his double to lead off what would become a six-run second inning and knock Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore from the game. All nine starters reached base Thursday, eight knocked at least one hit and three hit homers in Perez, Witt and Jac Caglianone.
The Royals also crushed eight doubles as a team, and both their 14 runs and 17 hits were season highs.
That backed Royals starter Noah Cameron’s five innings in which he threw 108 pitches and allowed five runs (four earned). The Cardinals took the lead with two runs in the top of the first, but Witt’s homer cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame. And Cameron was able to hold St. Louis scoreless for the next two innings to allow his offense to get to work.
“When the guys are hitting like that, it’s a lot of fun in the dugout watching them,” Cameron said.