Perez hits third grand slam of week

Salvador Perez is known mostly for his defense. Over the past few days, however, he's been an offensive force.

Playing in his third Triple-A game, the Royals prospect went 2-for-4 with his third grand slam of the week on Friday, powering the Omaha Storm Chasers to a 10-1 rout of the Albuquerque Isotopes.

"I'm 100 percent happy," said Perez, who matched a career high with five RBIs. "I'm really happy now."

The 21-year-old catching prospect has been on fire at the plate, going 13-for-28 over his last seven games. He has smacked four homers and driven in 20 runs during that stretch.

"This is the first time [I've had a streak like this]," Perez said. "Somebody told me I had 20 RBIs in the last week. I feel good, I feel happy. Unbelievable."

After striking out and grounding out in his first two at-bats, Perez stepped to the plate in the sixth with the bases loaded and nobody out. He jumped on a 1-0 pitch from reliever Ramon Troncoso, sending it over the wall in left-center field.

"I waited for a good pitch," Perez said. "I wanted to get some runs for my team. I was seeing a lot of sliders and breaking balls. I waited for a good pitch and hit the ball hard."

Perez delivered a two-out single in the seventh, driving in his fifth run to match the career best he established a week ago in the Texas League.

After batting .283 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 79 games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, the native of Venezuela learned he was being promoted on Tuesday night.

"I was really happy," Perez said. "After the game, [manager Brian Poldberg] told me to come into his office and he told me that you're leaving tomorrow to go to Triple-A."

Perez said following his promotion, he's going to keep his goals simple.

"Like in Double-A, I want to play hard every day," he said.