The Kansas City Royals captured their first World Series title in 30 years with a 7-2 win in 12 innings over the New York Mets on Sunday night, and catcher Salvador Perez walked away with MVP honors following his sensational championship display.
Perez went 1-for-5 in Game 5, but his RBI groundout to third base in the top of the ninth scored Eric Hosmer and allowed Kansas City to send the game to extra innings.
The Royals catcher finished the World Series with a team-high eight hits—three of which came in Saturday's Game 4 win—and two RBI, while batting .364 as he became the first catcher to take home the hardware since the Toronto Blue Jays' Pat Borders in 1992, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
StatsCentre added that Perez became the seventh catcher in MLB history to earn World Series MVP honors, while MLB.com's Richard Justice pointed out that Perez joined Pablo Sandoval (2012) as the only Venezuelan-born players to accomplish the feat.
MLB snapped a shot of a giddy Perez in the locker room while he was accepting his trophy:
ESPN Stats & Info noted Perez's performance in this year's Fall Classic served as redemption for how the 2014 edition ended:
"I already forget about last year," Perez told reporters following the win, according to ASAP Sports. "So I just enjoy the moment now. In 2015 Kansas City is No. 1. Who cares about what happened last year?"
As Baseball Tonight explained prior to Game 5, Perez's play behind the plate over the past few seasons has been tremendous:
The Royals had worthy MVP candidates galore—including Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer—but Perez's consistency with the title on the line was hard to ignore. According to Justice, Perez played every inning of the World Series before manager Ned Yost removed him for a pinch runner in the 12th on Sunday night.
The 25-year-old recorded a hit in every game of the World Series, and without his poise behind the plate, Kansas City may not have reached the championship plateau.
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