Salvador Perez had knee surgery in spring training, and it kept him out of the Kansas City Royals’ lineup until June 22.
That left a big void in the middle of the batting order and behind the plate.
Perez was a major reason the Royals routed the Minnesota Twins 9-1 Tuesday night.
He went 2-for-4, drove in a run and scored a run in extending his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games, which is also the longest hitting streak by a Royal this year.
He also threw out two baserunners attempting to steal. The Twins had swiped 16 bases in their previous 11 games, but Perez shut down their running game.
He threw out Jamey Carroll and Darin Mastroianni in the first and fifth innings, respectively, to eradicate potential threats.
Since July 2, opponents have attempted to steal only 21 bases when Perez has been behind the plate, and he has thrown out 11 of them.
He also leads all catchers with a .317 batting average, 71 hits, 33 runs and 15 doubles since he came off the disabled list. He is hitting .365 (23-for-63) during his hitting streak.