For a short-lived moment Thursday night, it seemed Salvador Perez would be the Royals' hero on his 28th birthday.
With no outs and the bases loaded in the first inning, he extended his bat to Orioles starter Chris Tillman's 89 mph offering. He connected. The pitch traveled 363 feet, banged into the right-field wall and bounced back into the field at Camden Yards. As Mike Moustakas dived into third base, Perez stopped his trot just beyond first.
He didn't know what the umpire would call. From the press box, it seemed like a home run.
"As soon as I hit it, at best I thought it was a sacrifice fly," Perez said.