KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A rarely-used backup infielder who never even got into the game made the play of the day for the Detroit Tigers.
From the dugout, Hernan Perez spotted that a Kansas City runner failed to tag up. That set off a wild sequence Saturday that resulted in an out instead of the go-ahead score – plus a lot of discussion – as Detroit beat the Royals 3-2 to boost its AL Central lead.
Winning pitcher Max Scherzer said he’d reward the 23-year-old Perez, who spent most the year in the minors and has only three at-bats this season in the majors.
“Whatever he wants – dinner, lunch, breakfast, drinks, you name it,” Scherzer said. “That’s a one-in-a-million play. It’s unbelievable that we had someone on the bench be astute enough to see that.”
Joe Nathan escaped a ninth-inning jam as the Tigers increased their edge to 2 1/2 games over the Royals.