Salvador Perez rebounds from struggles at the plate with game-winning hit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Salvador Perez just needed to take a pitch.

A player not known for his patience at the plate, Perez was especially antsy in the late innings of Tuesday's wild-card win against the Oakland A's. With the Royals trailing 7-6 with one out and runners on the corners in the bottom of the eighth, Perez, the Royals' All-Star catcher, was facing the A's Luke Gregerson.

Gregerson, a righty reliever who relies primarily on his slider, attacked Perez with the pitch. Perez was more than willing to go after it. Gregerson threw three straight sliders and Perez chased all three, unable to lay off the last one before it bounced in the dirt. Perez was the second out and the Royals didn't score again in the inning.

After Kansas City tied it in the ninth inning, Perez was up with Eric Hosmer on third and two outs in the 10th. He fouled the first pitch and swung at the second, grounding out softly to second.

Perez, a .260 hitter in 2014 with a .289 on-base percentage, doesn't draw a lot of walks. But it felt like he was trying to give the Royals the lead on each pitch he saw in the late innings. When he came to bat again in the 12th against the A's Jason Hammel, he pledged patience, a starkly different philosophy than he had been employing.

"From the last at‑bat, then I take the first pitch, then I take the second pitch and I want to feel my legs at home plate a little bit and don't swing at the pitch," Perez said. "If you want me to swing, I have to wait until the pitch is up and swing at my pitch."

Well, he took only the first pitch, a ball. The second was a foul. The third was a swinging strike. Perez was no longer in a position to swing at his pitch, though he said was looking for a slider down in the strike zone.

After a dropped pitchout by Oakland catcher Derek Norris helped Christian Colon steal second base, Perez fouled off another pitch before he somehow, some way pulled a slider down and off the plate past Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson to score Colon and give the Royals a 9-8 win.

It was Perez's only hit of the game.

For the Royals' chances of success the rest of the postseason, the patience will have to continue for Perez. Since the end of June, Perez has hit .234 with five walks and is now batting in the No. 7 spot after spending most of the season hitting third through sixth. If he can draw a walk or two the rest of the postseason and hit closer to his season average, the bottom third of the Royals' lineup suddenly looks more formidable.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg