CLEVELAND -- Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, breaking Johnny Bench's record for homers by a catcher in a season as the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 7-2 on Monday.
Perez, 31, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, topping Bench's total from 1970 for the most by a player who played at least 75% of his team's games at catcher.
Starting again behind the plate -- the durable All-Star has seen some time at designated hitter -- Perez drove a 1-2 pitch from Triston McKenzie into the left field bleachers, a drive that traveled 429 feet.