Perez's Challenges Tilt Royals-A's Series

0:00It's April 28th. MLB News today starts now, AI-powered and game-ready. I'm Cory with the story. Salvador Perez has been a nightmare for Oakland Ace fans since that crushing hit in the 2014 American League Wildcar game, but the guys. Still crushing in as one of the top catchers around. Now with automated ball-strike challenges rolling out Leaguewide in 2026, Perez leaves the pack this season with 19 wins out of. 24 challenges, hitting a 79% success rate. The best among catchers with at least 20 tries. Meanwhile, Ace catcher Shay Langelears is lagging behind with just 12 successes from 23 challenges, a 52% clip their ranks. Him 49th out of 67 qualified guys. It's a start gap heading into their series against the Royals. Fans might still hold that grudge from Perez's past heroics, but his edge here could tilt close games by getting Royals pictures into hitter's counts. Less often. For the A's, a bad early challenge from Langelears might make the whole staff gun shy on that second one, handing Royals batters free strikes and putting Oakland's arms in tough spots.

1:11Teamwise, the world's sit at 11 wins and 17 losses, barely ahead of Houston for the American League Basement with a pitching staff ERA of. 4.62, 24th, and baseball. The A's look stronger on paper at 21st with 4.42, but their home ERA is of brutal 6.58 through 10 games, while both offenses hover around 93 to 94 weighted runs, created plus. All this sets up a tight matchup where Oakland's pitching at home and those catcher challenge calls could make or break the series, especially if the A staff can get ahead early like they need to.