After hitting his 39th and 40th home runs of the season against Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Kopech and driving in five runs, Perez was no match for Kimbrel, called on by manager Tony La Russa an inning or two earlier than usual.
Kimbrel, who struck out Sebastian Rivero and Royals leadoff man Whit Merrifield before Nicky Lopez reached first with a half-swing single to left field, got Perez to chase three breaking balls for swinging strikes.
Yoan Moncada, who has a sore wrist that can get aggravated when he swings right-handed, didn’t start against Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch.