NEW YORK (AP) — Salvador Perez was back in the lineup for the Kansas City Royals after his first day off this season and posting on social media about not needing a mental breather.
Perez was the designated hitter Sunday and said things between him and manager Matt Quatraro are fine.
“No frustration, Zero frustration for us,” Perez said before the finale of a three-game series against the Yankees. “The people they don’t want to know what’s going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know, zero frustration. I don’t have time for that.”
On Saturday, Perez was given his first day off since sitting out two games last August.
Quatraro described it as giving him a mental breather.
On Saturday night, Perez posted on social media: “I don’t need a mental breather.”
“I know people were surprised I didn't play yesterday, but I think everybody has off days in the big leagues," Perez said. "It’s kind of hard to play 162, especially behind the home plate."
“Everything’s fine,” Quatraro said. “Salvy and I have talked multiple times about it. We’re in a good spot. I think some of it comes from it’s a story when Salvy doesn’t play and there’s usually a follow-up question to how’d that go, how’s he feeling. “So it was just me trying to provide a little color to the answer that didn’t go the way it was intended and that’s really all there was to it.”
Perez was the DH for the seventh time this season.
Off to a slow start, Perez is hitting .160 with three homers and six RBIs in his first 20 games. Last season, the 35-year-old batted .236 — his second lowest-average in a full season — but hit 30 homers and drove in 100 runs for his third career 100-RBI season.
Perez caught 92 games last season, was the designated hitter in 38 other games and also played 28 games at first base. He played 47 games at first base in 2024.
To give Perez more time at designated hitter, the Royals added a third catcher when they selected the contract of Elías Díaz from Triple-A Omaha. Díaz signed a minor league contract with Kansas City in late-February and was hitting .226 at Omaha.
Last season Díaz batted .204 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 106 games for the San Diego Padres. He is a career .247 hitter with 71 homers and 326 RBIs in 11 seasons for Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez runs out his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, right, celebrates his three-run home run with Carter Jensen (22) against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez celebrates his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched a second round of airstrikes on Iran into Thursday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations, and Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
The new U.S. assault across multiple Iranian cities came as efforts to negotiate an end the war again appeared stuck, with Iran insisting it would maintain its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices higher. The American attack appeared more intense and wider than the day before, but Iran released little information on the extent of the damage.
Kuwait closed its airspace for several hours because of the Thursday morning attack, but did not elaborate on any damage. Jordan didn't acknowledge the attack, though the U.S. Embassy in Amman warned about it. And in Bahrain, its Interior Ministry said an 11-year-old girl had been hurt and cars and homes were damaged by “falling debris” from interceptions targeting the Iranian attack.
The third back-and-forth strikes this week have tested a two-month shaky ceasefire. The first were attacks between Iran and Israel on Sunday into Monday, followed by the two rounds of fire between America and Tehran.
Trump has urged Iran to sign a deal to end the war and suggested earlier this week that an agreement could be reached in days.
But Iran has proved resilient despite weeks of heavy bombing. It is betting that its ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passageway for oil and natural gas — gives it a strong bargaining chip.
Still, both countries seem to be looking for a way to end the conflict — if they can manage to sell it as a win at home.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing goals that make compromise harder: the collapse of Iran’s theocratic government, the elimination of its nuclear program, and the destruction of the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
The U.S. Central Command said its latest round of airstrikes ended just before sunrise Thursday in Iran. The military command said the strikes came “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression” and targeted “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems and air defense sites.” It did not elaborate on the damage done by the strikes, which it said were carried out by the U.S. Air Force, Marines and Navy.
Explosions from the strikes echoed around Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern areas along the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard later said sites hit by the Americans included a manufacturing complex, a military barracks and a local Guard base outside of Tehran.
Iran responded by launching strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan for a second day.
Israel early Thursday also warned residents in the north to seek shelter after the detection of suspected incoming fire from Lebanon.
Since the U.S. and Israel started the war with Feb. 28 attacks on Iran, the conflict has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices and made food and other basics more expensive.
The international benchmark for crude oil traded above $93 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 25% since the start of the war.
Trump said the U.S. military has since last month undertaken a “secret mission” to sneak oil shipments past Iran’s forces in the Strait of Hormuz. He said ships were slipping through at night, aided by the destruction of Iranian radar equipment.
Trump said as a result more than 100 million barrels of oil have evaded Iran’s chokehold on the strait. There was no immediate confirmation of that figure, which roughly equals five days of oil shipments through the waterway before the war began.
The military’s role was not immediately clear. The U.S. Central Command on Wednesday disputed Iran’s claims that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, saying commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out.
Wary of high gas prices in the run-up to midterm elections in November, Trump seems to be looking for a quick win. But he is also making demands that will be tough for Iran to swallow.
The U.S. wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, that uranium is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels.
Iran is refusing to give up the uranium and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something Trump rejected.
Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting between its ally Hezbollah and Israel.
A Qatari diplomatic delegation, negotiating in coordination with the U.S., left Tehran on Thursday morning after holding talks, said an official with knowledge of the team who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the mediation.
Price and Toropin reported from Washington. AP journalist Victoria Eastwood in Cairo contributed to this report.
A woman adjusts her headscarf as she crosses an intersection in northern Tehran, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man runs past burning cars following an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A woman walks past a mural depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier under missile attack in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A cleric checks his cell phone on stage in front of a screen displaying portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a pro-government gathering in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
