CLEVELAND — Salvador Perez had four hits and drove in a pair of runs, Kris Bubic struck out a season-high eight and the Kansas City Royals beat the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians 7-1 on Saturday night.
Perez collected three singles and a solo homer in four plate appearances, spoiling the return of Cleveland right-hander Zach Plesac (3-12) following a one-month stay on the injured list with a broken pitching hand.
The Guardians will host either Toronto, Seattle or Tampa Bay in a best-of-three wild-card series next weekend. Cleveland has won 10 of 12 and is an MLB-best 21-5 since Sept. 5, and the team celebrated its division title this evening by raising the championship flag.
Bubic (3-13) tossed five scoreless innings, allowing five hits, in snapping his career-long losing streak at seven. The left-hander had not won since July 24 against Tampa Bay, posting a 6.14 ERA over his previous 11 starts.
Drew Waters homered for the second straight day, Kyle Isbel had a two-run double and MJ Melendez doubled twice for Kansas City. Bobby Witt Jr. singled and stole his AL rookie-leading 29th base.
Plesac was activated to make his first start since punching the mound in anger on Aug. 27 in Seattle. He gave up four runs, one earned, in 3 2/3 innings and will work out of the bullpen going forward.
Owen Miller doubled home Oscar Gonzalez in the sixth to pull Cleveland within 5-1, but Perez homered off Kirk McCarty in the seventh and Melendez scored on a fielder's choice in the eighth for the Royals.
Catcher Bo Naylor became the 17th Guardians player to make his major-league debut this season, equaling the franchise record set in 1912 and tied in 1914. He went 0 for 2 and threw out Isbel on an attempted steal of second.
Naylor's older brother, Josh, is Cleveland's primary first baseman. The last siblings with the franchise were Roberto and Sandy Alomar Jr. in 2000.
COMING AND GOING
The Guardians selected the contract of Naylor from Triple-A Columbus, adding a third catcher to their roster. Naylor batted .263 with 21 homers, 68 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 118 games, split between the Clippers and Double-A Akron.
"If you pinch-hit Bo, you don't have to pinch-run for him because of his speed," manager Terry Francona said. "We wanted to do this because this stretch has been hard on our two catchers (Austin Hedges and Luke Maile)."
RHP Bryan Shaw, who was 6-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 60 games, was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. A longtime Francona favorite, Shaw is Cleveland's career leader with 517 relief appearances.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Guardians: 3B Gabriel Arias (right wrist bruise) was in the lineup and committed an error, one night after being hit by a Brady Singer pitch in the first inning. All-Star 3B José Ramírez was given the day off.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Max Castillo (0-1, 4.98 ERA), acquired from Toronto as part of an Aug. 2 trade for Whit Merrifield, makes his fourth start with Kansas City. The rookie is 0-1 with a 3.43 ERA in six road appearances.
Guardians: RHP Shane Bieber (12-8, 2.91 ERA) has an 8-2 record with a 2.05 ERA and 85 strikeouts over his last 12 outings. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner will start Cleveland's first postseason game on Oct. 7.