TIGERS 3, ROYALS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- 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 American League 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.
Kansas City fell into a tie for the second wild-card spot with Seattle, which played later at Houston.
Detroit, seeking its fourth consecutive division title, has won 13 of 18 against the Royals this year, including 8 of 9 at Kauffman Stadium.
It was 1-1 in the Royals sixth when things got crazy.
With Salvador Perez on third and Eric Hosmer on second with one out, Omar Infante lined out to second baseman Ian Kinsler. Trying for a double play, Kinsler threw to shortstop Eugenio Suarez and the ball sailed into left field.
Perez, who had been trying to get back to third after the catch, reversed course, headed home and appeared to score the tie-breaking run.
"I have to give credit where credit is due," Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus said. "Hernan Perez was the guy who initially noticed it, sitting on the bench watching the game. That's how it all started."
Scherzer (17-5) got back on the mound and made an appeal throw to third, saying Perez never tagged up. Third base umpire and crew chief Larry Vanover called Perez safe, prompting Ausmus to ask for video review challenge.
"You have to appeal," Ausmus said. "They called him safe on the appeal. I told Larry Vanover, 'We're appealing that Perez never went back and touched the bag.'
"There was some discussion on whether that's a challengeable play because a tag-up on a fly ball is not. This wasn't a case whether a guy left early. This was a missed base, which is challengeable."
The umpires checked with the replay booth in New York and were told the play was indeed not reviewable.
On the videoboard, meanwhile, a replay was displayed that clearly showed Perez never tagged up. The umpires gathered again and reversed their original call, ruling Perez out and ending the inning.
"We started talking about what happened," Vanover said in a statement. "We walked through the play. We took a consensus of the information, out of that crew consultation, we came up with the answer that he didn't tag up."
"Originally, I thought he was coming back so I ruled safe on the appeal, but now after the crew consultation we took a consensus of the information."
Vanover said the crew thought the play wasn't reviewable, but they weren't 100 percent certain.
"In that situation, I didn't want to not go to the headset and ask to review it when I could have," he said. "I wanted to make darn sure I didn't mess that up."
Salvador Perez said it was a confusing sequence.
"I don't know what the rule is there in that situation," he said. "I never see something like that before. It's never happened to me before."
Royals Manager Ned Yost said the team wouldn't contest the call any further.
"You can't protest a judgment call," Yost said.
Pinch-hitter Tyler Collins and Rajai Davis had RBI singles in the seventh off James Shields (14-8).
Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the Royals ninth. They moved up on Nori Aoki's groundout and were stranded on pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez's grounder, giving Nathan his 33rd save in 40 tries.
Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff) opened the Tigers' fourth with his 17th home run. He also singled in the sixth for his sixth consecutive multihit game, the longest streak of his career.
Escobar hit an RBI single in the fifth and Hosmer singled home a run in the eighth.
Aoki, who was 13 for 16 in the past four games, put down sacrifice bunts in first and third innings but the Royals failed to convert that into a run off Scherzer.
BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 3 Jose Bautista hit his eighth home run of the year against host New York, Marcus Stroman pitched six gritty innings and Toronto ended a season-worst six-game skid to beat the Yankees and keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Danny Valencia hit a go-ahead, two-run double, helping hand the Yankees their first loss of Derek Jeter's final homestand after two victories over Toronto. With most of the 47,292 fans at Yankee Stadium standing and chanting "Der-ek Je-ter!" his every at-bat, the retiring captain doubled and singled for his third consecutive multihit game. He also scored his 1,920th run to pass suspended teammate Alex Rodriguez for ninth place on the career list.
ANGELS 8, RANGERS 5 Jered Weaver earned his AL-leading 18th victory, Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark with a two-run home run and Mike Trout also hit a two-run shot to lead Los Angeles to a victory over visiting Texas.
ORIOLES 7, RED SOX 2 Adam Jones hit a pair of two-run home runs and host Baltimore received another steady performance from righthander Chris Tillman in a victory over Boston.
ASTROS 10, MARINERS 1 Chris Carter and Alex Presley hit two-run home runs and Houston connected five times in all, routing visiting Seattle and preventing the Mariners from moving up in the playoff chase.
RAYS 3, WHITE SOX 1 Nick Franklin hit his first home run with host Tampa Bay and Chris Archer pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, leading the Rays to a victory over Chicago.
INDIANS 7, TWINS 3 Yan Gomes homered and drove in four runs to help visiting Cleveland advance in the AL wild-card race by beating Minnesota on a rainy Saturday night.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 8, DODGERS 7 Chris Coghlan hit two home runs, including the go-ahead two-run drive off Brian Wilson in the eighth inning, and Chicago rallied to beat visiting Los Angeles. The Dodgers were looking to build on a 3 1/2-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West after clinching a playoff spot for the fifth time in nine years Friday. Instead Los Angeles blew a five-run lead and wasted a pair of home runs and five RBI by Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers were up 7-2 in the seventh, but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead.
ROCKIES 5, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Eddie Butler pitched six solid innings for his first major-league victory and host Colorado beat Arizona. Corey Dickerson and Josh Rutledge homered for the Rockies, who have won five consecutive for the first time since June 11-15. Butler (1-1) made the most of his start, allowing one run and five hits and giving the Rockies a glimpse into the future. Butler was Colorado's first-round pick in 2012 and has quickly moved through the organization. Jake Lamb homered for the reeling Diamondbacks. Arizona has dropped five in a row and 12 of 15 to fall into last place in the NL West, two games behind Colorado.
METS 4, BRAVES 2 Slumping Atlanta was shut down by Jonathon Niese and lost to visiting New York, damaging its flickering playoff hopes.
CARDINALS 8, REDS 4 Tony Cruz hit a three-run home run and host St. Louis connected three times, beating Cincinnati and moving closer to its fourth consecutive playoff berth.
BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0 Elian Herrera sprinted home on Logan Schafer’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and visiting Milwaukee edged Pittsburgh to tighten the race for the second National League wild-card spot.
NATIONALS 3, MARLINS 2 Ryan Zimmerman had two hits, including an RBI triple, in his return to the lineup and Washington beat host Miami.
PADRES 3, GIANTS 2 Andrew Cashner pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning and San Diego beat visiting San Francisco to keep the Giants from gaining ground on the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
INTERLEAGUE
PHILLIES 3, ATHLETICS 0 Jerome Williams beat Oakland for the third time this season with three different teams, and Oakland missed an opportunity to extend its lead in the AL wild-card race with a loss to visiting Philadelphia. Freddy Galvis hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning against Dan Otero (8-2). Marlon Byrd added an RBI single in the eighth.
Sports on 09/21/2014