Salvador Perez provides spark for KC Royals offense, but Yankees batter Royals relievers

Just when the Kansas City Royals’ scoring drought was starting to get a little overbearing, rain fell both figuratively and literally.

The Royals smacked New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole for five runs in the fifth inning— all with two outs — and the finishing touch came courtesy of fresh-off-the-IL Salvador Perez in the form of a three-run go-ahead home run that traveled an estimated 424 feet.

Alas, not even the dramatic return of Perez was enough. The Yankees rallied and scored eight runs in the eighth inning as the Royals lost their fourth in a row, 11-5, in front of an announced 42,481 at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

“That’s a tough one to say the least,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “To watch our guys against a very good pitcher who was throwing the ball well, figure out a way to get a lead. Kris (Bubic) giving us a chance. I thought he threw the ball very well today. … Unfortunately, (we made) some mistakes late.

“But that fifth inning was impressive to watch where we got two quick outs, and all of a sudden guys start putting together really good at-bats, one right after the other.”

The game included a 23-minute rain delay between the the seventh and eighth innings.

The Royals (39-61) entered the eighth inning with a two-run lead, and they handed it over to their best relief pitcher, Scott Barlow, to face the most dangerous part of the Yankees’ lineup for the second night in a row.

Barlow, who had surrendered a walk-off homer to Yankees star Aaron Judge on Thursday night, started the eighth off by striking out Judge.

Barlow then gave up an infield single on a slow roller by Anthony Rizzo that was picked up by charging third baseman Nicky Lopez. Then a single up the middle put two men on with one out.

But Barlow got a potential inning-ending double play ball hit to shortstop. At least one run should have been recorded, but Maikel Garcia — recalled from Double-A and playing in his third big-league game — didn’t field it cleanly. The Royals didn’t record an out and that left the bases loaded.

The next batter, former Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi, hit a grounder that first baseman Nick Pratto gloved after diving. Barlow had started to break to cover first base, but slipped on the wet field and never got there. Pratto double clutched the ball and ultimately held onto it leaving everyone safe and the bases loaded with a run having scored.

“Anytime you’re in a tough situation, you never want to think anything negative,” Barlow said. “It’s just always about executing the next pitch and trying to get your mindset in the right place. So that way you’re always positive. I felt like I was always there one pitch away, never felt like I was out of it.”

After Benintendi’s infield single, Barlow walked Aaron Hicks on a full count to force in the tying run, and an RBI single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa put the Yankees (68-33) ahead.

Another grounder on the infield scored a run as Lopez had to charge the ball and didn’t have a sure out at the plate, so he took the out at first base.

“It was tough conditions too,” Barlow said. “It rained, and I think the grounds crew did the best they could to dry it up. Even I fell on one. The whole infield was kind of in a little rough conditioning. But it’s the same process, do it again. I did it once, I can do it again. Always having that same process of one pitch away.”

Barlow allowed six runs, just two earned, the final two scored when Jackson Kowar came on in relief and gave up a walk and a grand slam by Judge.

Multiple times in the inning, Barlow got relatively soft contact that ended up in the hands of an infielder without an out recorded and runs scored.

“Those are things that start to turn into big innings when you’ve got an offense that can start stacking stuff on top of the mistakes,” Matheny said. “(Barlow) made some good pitches, but then he got deep into his pitch count and they started taking better swings. That’s the guy we want in that situation and that part of the lineup.”

Royals starting pitcher Bubic tossed six innings and allowed three runs on four hits, including home runs by Rizzo and Judge. He also struck out six and registered his third consecutive quality start.

Bubic described his outing as “solid.”

“Probably the things that stand out most to me are just the two mistake pitches that led to some big swings for them and the two four-pitch walks,” Bubic said of his outing. “Obviously, those didn’t necessarily hurt me tonight. But at the same time, those can’t happen.

“Other than that. We did a good job rallying back in the fifth to go ahead. I just wanted to keep us in the game.”

Judge’s two home runs set a Yankees franchise record with nine multi-home run games in a single season.

Whit Merrifield went 2 for 4 with a double and a two-run single that started the scoring in the fifth inning for the Royals. Merrifield’s single gave the Royals their first runs after going 31 straight scoreless innings.

Royals rookie Garcia went 3 for 4 and recorded his first hit in the majors. Perez homered and drove in three in the loss.