Salvador Perez made Kansas City Royals history on Saturday. Perez and his team will now look to come away with a split of a four-game series in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

Perez, who has spent his entire major league career with Kansas City, homered off Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan in the seventh inning for his 318th career long ball. That put him atop the Royals’ all-time list, surpassing Hall of Famer George Brett.

During Perez’s postgame interview on the field, the entire team stood behind him after the 3-2 win. Perez, who made his major league debut in 2011, never dreamed when he started his career that he would reach this point.

“Just having fun. Play hard. Play as long as I can in the big leagues, just make it to the big leagues when I was in the minor leagues,” Perez said of his early years. “I never thought I would make it to 318 homers.”

It was a costly loss for Detroit, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped. The Tigers are desperately trying to get within striking distance of a playoff spot and convince their front office to not trade off key players and impending free agents such as Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Gleyber Torres.

“Obviously, you want to win them all, you want to execute perfectly,” manager A.J. Hinch said after his team’s setback. “Sport doesn’t always allow that.”

Framber Valdez will start the series finale for the Tigers. Valdez couldn’t get out of the first inning in his first start after the All-Star break.

Valdez was charged with six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter before Hinch pulled him after 42 pitches of an 11-2 road loss to the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday.

“(Tuesday) was the worst game ever for myself being on the losing side,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “It feels terrible.”

He’s eager to get back on the mound and redeem himself.

“I was questioning myself, what’s going on?” he said. “I’ll do my best to make adjustments, to never let this happen again.”

Valdez (5-7, 4.57 ERA) had delivered his best outing of the season in his last start before the break, holding the Athletics to one run and three hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings on July 9.

He also had a strong outing against the Royals on April 14, limiting them to one run and four hits in seven innings. He’s 2-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 10 career outings (eight starts) against Kansas City.

The Royals’ scheduled starter is rookie Luinder Avila (5-3, 4.86). The right-hander was sharp in his last outing on Tuesday, as he lasted a season-high 6 1/3 innings and held San Francisco to two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts in a 3-2 home victory.

“Right from the get-go, aggressive fastballs down in the zone, upper-90s velo with good sink, slider in the zone,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, it was exciting to watch. That’s the high-end stuff that we know he has, and the ability to get in the zone, I know he’s worked really hard between starts.”

Avila praised the coaching staff for his success.

“All the credit goes to the pitching coaches,” Avila said. “They’re always there working with me. I just try to execute whatever they say.”

Avila tossed an inning of scoreless relief against Detroit on May 8.

–Field Level Media

The Miami Marlins’ losing streak has reached historical proportions.

If the Marlins lose again on Sunday afternoon in the finale of their three-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres, Miami will have dropped 12 consecutive games, the longest skid in team history.

“It’s almost like we’re playing just good enough not to win,” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said after a 7-2 loss to the Padres on Saturday night, marking the fourth time in team history the Marlins have lost 11 straight games, and the first time since 2011.

Miami lost its previous 10 games by three runs or less, but the Padres tacked on five runs in the final three innings on Saturday to run away with their second straight win.

“Every game is kind of its own chapter in a story,” McCullough said. “We had some chances early the last couple of days, first inning with some guys on, and you’re not able to cash in. … We just haven’t done enough within these games to find a way to get on top and to win, so we’re all in this together.”

The Marlins had won six straight before the skid began, giving them a 26-8 record from June 1 to July 9, the best in baseball.

“This storm cloud, or whatever these rough seas that we’re navigating right now, they’ll end,” McCullough said. “I wish I had a crystal ball to know when, but they will, and still a ton of confidence in everyone here that we’ll get this thing turned in a different direction.”

Eury Perez, the hottest pitcher for the Marlins, gave them seven solid innings on Saturday but couldn’t end the skid. The right-hander allowed three runs and seven hits, striking out two and walking one on a career-high 104 pitches.

Miami right-hander Janson Junk (4-6, 5.09 ERA) will get his chance on Sunday in his first-ever appearance against San Diego.

Right-hander Walker Buehler (6-5, 5.23) will start for the Padres, who will try to secure their first series sweep since June 22-24 against the Atlanta Braves.

Buehler is coming off a win against the Atlanta Braves in his last outing, holding them to two runs and two hits in 5 2/3 innings of an 8-3 road victory on Tuesday.

“He’s been throwing the ball well all year for us,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said of Buehler. “He just needs to continue doing what he’s always done his entire career.”

Buehler will try to pick up a San Diego team that had a hot start this season, climbing as high as 11 games above .500 in May before hitting a rut.

The Padres’ 4-2 win in the series opener on Friday prevented them from falling four games under .500 for the first time this season.

“There has never been a question of how talented this team is,” Buehler said after his last start. “And as cold as we’ve been on, kind of, both sides of the ball and lack of success, I think talent means that you can get equally as hot. … When you have talent, you have a chance.”

Buehler is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven career starts against Miami.

–Field Level Media

When the Los Angeles Dodgers wrap up their three-game series at the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon, they will have a chance to do something they have only accomplished once in 65 seasons.

A win in the finale, which also doubles as the conclusion of their nine-game road trip, would give them a sweep of the weekend series. It also would mean the Dodgers won all six games against the Mets this season.

According to MCubed.net, the only season that Los Angeles accomplished this unblemished run was in 2017 (7-0) since the Mets’ inaugural season in 1962.

Emmet Sheehan (4-7, 5.13 ERA) will start for the Dodgers and face the Mets for the first time in his career. The right-hander has been tagged with the loss in six of his last eight starts, including last Monday in Philadelphia. He gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings as the Phillies won 10-7.

Similarly, Mets starter Freddy Peralta (5-9, 5.01) also has struggled of late, posting an 0-4 record with an 8.44 ERA in 26 2/3 innings over his last six starts.

The 30-year-old righty, though, has pitched well against the Dodgers. In eight career starts, he’s gone 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA.

As a member of the Milwaukee Brewers last season who led the National League with 17 wins, Peralta beat Los Angeles twice in less than two weeks. He allowed a combined four runs across 11 innings on 10 hits and four walks. In the first game, on July 7, he blanked them over six innings, yielding just five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

Since the Dodgers’ road trip started right after the All-Star break, at least some of the players have been away from Southern California for nearly two weeks. Before venturing to Queens and facing the Mets, Los Angeles took two of three from both the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, two teams that hold wild-card spots in their leagues with two months left in the regular season.

“It seems like we’ve been on the road a long time, but the travel has been nice as far as staying in this time zone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Los Angeles Daily News. “We’re finding ways to win. So that’s the main thing. That’s the object of the game.”

Freddie Freeman is one of the Dodgers who has been out on the East Coast for two weeks. The National League All-Star first baseman has not shown any road wear. He went 3-for-4 in Saturday’s win. It was his third straight game with three or more hits. That’s the fifth time Freeman, 36, has done that in his 17-year career.

His last such streak happened nearly three years ago.

The Mets, losers of three straight and five of their last seven, have struggled against Dodger pitching in the series, getting just 10 total hits while striking out 22 times.

Rookie outfielder A.J. Ewing went 0-for-5 and struck out twice batting leadoff for the Mets on Saturday. Since play resumed from the break, he’s hitting just .194 (7-for-36) with 13 strikeouts. Interim manager Andy Green told reporters that the 21-year-old is experiencing what most others face during their big-league careers.

“I see him as plenty capable, and he’s going to respond,” Green said. “But at this moment, it’s time to punch back.”

–Field Level Media