David Lesky recaps the weekend and appraises the Wild Card race.

Kansas City Royals outfielder Mark Canha returned from an injury-rehabilitation assignment on Monday and was then designated for assignment, the club announced before its series-opening home game against the Texas Rangers. Canha, 36, was recovering from a left-elbow injury. He had been on the injury list since June 8, missing 32 major-league games.

The Kansas City Royals won 86 games last season and clinched the second American League Wild Card spot. They beat the Baltimore Orioles in the first round befor

On Monday, the Kansas City Royals rudely welcomed outfielder Mark Canha back from the 10-day injured list by designating him for assignment.

Fans will have multiple opportunities this week to see if the Royals can make up ground in the race when the team plays host to the Nationals and White Sox. As usual, the Royals’ six games this week are on FanDuel Sports Kansas City and Sunday’s game also will be simulcast on two local stations in Kansas City.

With the victory, the Royals (64-61) are now also 2 1/2 games ahead of the Rangers (62-64). Both are chasing the New York Yankees (67-57) for the third and final AL wild-card spot in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Royals first. Mike Yastrzemski homers to center field. Bobby Witt walks. Vinnie Pasquantino called out on strikes. Maikel Garcia called out on strikes. Adam Frazier strikes out swinging.

Kansas City Royals designated hitter Salvador Perez watches the flight of his two-run home run during the sixth inning of a Sunday, June 22, 2025 game against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.

When he hit his 20th home run of the season earlier this week, Kansas City Royals legend Salvador Perez continued to move up an impressive list in baseball history, as noted by Bob Nightengale of USA Today: He just set a franchise record with his ninth season hitting at least 20 homers,