Salvador Perez moved closer to Royals’ history with his two-run homer, Lane Thomas also clubbed a two-run shot and spot-starter Randy Dobnak allowed one run while pitching into the fifth inning, as Kansas City beat the visiting San Diego Padres 6-1 on Saturday.
Thomas set the tone with his homer in the first, and Perez added some insurance with a sixth-inning shot. Perez also moved within two of tying George Brett’s franchise record of 317 home runs.
The veteran Dobnak, meanwhile, made his third appearance of 2026 and first start since 2021. The right-hander grinded through 4 1/3 innings, yielding four hits and four walks, but a third-inning homer to Fernando Tatis Jr. produced the only run allowed.
Steven Cruz, Daniel Lynch IV (3-2), Beck Way and Eli Morgan then combined to allow two hits for the Royals, who won the first two of this three-game set, and have won four straight at home.
Ty France doubled twice and Jake Cronenworth also had two hits for the Padres, who went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. San Diego has lost 18 of 23 road games.
After San Diego stranded a pair of runners in the first, Kansas City’s Carter Jensen (two hits) singled and scored on the homer by Thomas (two hits) into the left-field seats off Griffin Canning (1-8).
The Padres got on the board in the third when Tatis cleared the left field wall. However, the Royals got that run back in the bottom of the frame, as Jac Caglianone’s double to left scored Jensen from first base.
Kansas City made it 4-1 in the fourth when Isaac Collins ended Canning’s day with a two-out RBI single to center field. Canning allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings on five hits and two walks.
San Diego chased Dobnak when it loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Cruz then got Manny Machado to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. The Padres put runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Lynch got Miguel Andujar to do the same.
–Field Level Media
