(PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

As the Kansas City Royals looked to bounce back Monday night after a terrible first half of the season, catcher and franchise legend Salvador Perez inched closer to history.

Despite the veteran slugger having a down year overall (he has just an .617 OPS through 93 games) he still is on a solid pace to reach his 10th consecutive 20-homer campaign, which excludes the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The home run he belted against the San Francisco Giants Monday night was historic as he moved just one behind Hall of Famer George Brett on the franchise’s all-time list. Brett had 317 career home runs while Perez currently has 316.

“It’s all about timing,” Perez said. “Try to let the ball get deep a little bit more. Try to not chase too much out of the strike zone. So I’ve been working a lot with the hitting coach guys. I just try to do my job.”

Kansas City had fought tooth-and-nail for a gritty 4-3 victory on Monday to improve their record to 41-60 on the season.

Kansas City and San Francisco continue their series tomorrow.  Luinder Avila (4-3, 5.08 ERA, 50K’s) will start for the Royals against Tyler Mahle (2-8, 5.31 ERA, 73K’s) for the Giants.  First pitch is at 6:40pm, pregame will air at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).