Mariners-Royals game postponed by rain, DH set for Sunday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals game against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night was postponed because of rain and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

The teams have split the first two games of the four-game series, with Seattle winning 5-2 Friday night to improve to 13-8 since the All-Star break.

The loss dropped the Royals to 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the A.L. Central.

The Royals will likely place All-Star catcher Salvador Perez on the disabled list before the doubleheader Sunday.

The Royals and Mariners were rescheduled for a traditional doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 11:15 a.m. and with about 30 minutes between games.

An MRI revealed Perez has a right intercostal strain after leaving the game Friday after six innings.

“It’s going to have to be a pretty miraculous recovery,” Royals manager Ned Yost said to prevent Perez going on the disabled list.

It they had played Saturday, Yost said Perez was “too sore” to play. The Royals had rookie catcher Cameron Gallagher in the clubhouse on standby, ready to activate him.

The Mariners recalled left-hander Marco Gonzalez from Triple-A Tacoma to take Hernandez’s rotation turn. Gonzalez will start the first game Sunday, while the Royals will counter with left-hander Danny Duffy.

Gonzales was acquired in a July 21 trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Tyler O’Neill. He went 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts with Tacoma.

The Mariners will start right-hander Erasmo Ramirez in the second game. The Royals plan on bringing up rookie right-hander Jakob Junis as the 26th man and starting him in the second game.

Junis is 3-2 with a 5.50 ERA in nine games, six starts, with Kansas City. He is 3-5 with a 2.92 ERA in a dozen starts with Triple-A Omaha this season.

The rainout was the Mariners’ first since April 30, 2014. They had not been rained out in Kansas City since Aug. 19, 2004.