Salvador Perez's solo home run ignited a four-run fourth inning that sparked the Kansas City Royals to a crucial 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in Monday's Game 2 of the teams' American League DIvision Series.

Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson and Maikel Garcia each delivered run-scoring singles during the big inning, while four Kansas City relievers kept the Yankees' potent bats largely quiet the rest of the way as the Royals evened this best-of-five series at 1-1.

Garcia finished 4 for 5 to tie a franchise record for hits in a post-season game.

The fifth-seeded Royals, making their first post-season appearance since 2015, will now host the next two meetings with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday in Kansas City.

New York, the AL's top seed, got a ninth-inning home run from Jazz Chisholm but a shaky performance from starting pitcher Carlos Rodon, who held the Royals scoreless for the first three innings before getting hit hard in the fourth.

Perez, the last remaining member of Kansas City's 2015 World Series champion team, started the uprising with a long home run to left field that tied the game at 1-1.

Yuli Gurriel followed Perez's blast with a single and took second on Rodon's wild pitch before scoring the go-ahead run on Pham's one-out single.

Pham stole second and later crossed the plate on Hampson's two-out single that chased Rodon. Garcia then greeted reliever Ian Hamilton with a single to bring in Hampson, who advanced to second on the throw home to try to prevent Pham's run, for a 4-1 advantage.

Angel Zerpa (1-0) and John Schreiber threw a scoreless inning each to protect the lead before Kris Bubic worked the seventh and eighth to maintain the three-run cushion.

Lucas Erceg came on in the ninth and allowed Chisholm's lead-off homer, but retired the three of the next four Yankee hitters for his third save of these playoffs.

Rodon struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings, but was charged with all four runs while surrendering seven hits.

Cole Ragans threw the first four innings for Kansas City and issued four walks, but allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five.

New York's lone run against Ragans came in the third. Gleyber Torres drew a lead-off walk, moved to second on an Austin Wells single and came home on Giancarlo Stanton's single.

Carpenter's homer in ninth gets Tigers even with Guardians

In the AL's other Division Series, Kerry Carpenter's three-run homer off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Detroit Tigers to a much-needed 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians.

With two on and two out in the top of the ninth, Carpenter drove a slider from Clase over the right field wall to finally put Detroit ahead in a game dominated by pitching and defence to that point.

Beau Brieske then struck out two in a perfect bottom of the ninth to allow the sixth-seeded Tigers to send this best-of-five series to Detroit tied at 1-1. Game 3 will be held Wednesday at Comerica Park.

Clase, the AL leader with 47 saves during the regular season, retired the first two Detroit hitters in the top of the ninth before Jake Rogers extended the Tigers' half of the inning with a single. Trey Sweeney followed with a single before Carpenter delivered just the third home run Cleveland's usually dominant reliever has allowed in 2024.

The blast also ended Detroit's 17-inning scoreless streak to begin this series, which the second-seeded Guardians opened with Saturday's 7-0 victory. 

Clase had not permitted more than one run in any of his 75 previous appearances this season and yielded just five earned runs in a combined 75 1/3 innings going in.

Carpenter's homer made a winner out of Will Vest after the right-hander threw one scoreless inning in relief of Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, who held the Guardians to just three hits and struck out eight in seven innings.

Cleveland used five pitchers to keep the game 0-0 through eight innings, with former Tiger Matthew Boyd striking out five over the first 4 2/3 innings.

Both teams had scoring chances earlier in the contest, with the Tigers nearly taking the lead in the eighth after putting two on with two out. Wenceel Perez then greeted Clase with a sinking line drive that was caught by a diving Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan to end the threat.

Cleveland threatened in both the fifth and sixth, but came away empty both times as Skubal induced inning-ending double-play grounders with two runners on base on both occasions.

The San Diego Padres have made a key addition after trading in All-Star closer Josh Hader from the Milwaukee Brewers ahead of Tuesday's MLB Trade Deadline.

The addition of 28-year-old left-hander Hader is a major boost for the Padres, who have struggled in late-inning situations this season.

Hader is the 2022 league leader in saves, with 29 from 31 save opportunities this season, although he has career-worst 4.24 ERA which dipped to 12 during July.

The deal sees left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers, left-handed pitching prospect Robert Gasser, right-hander Dinelson Lamet and outfielder Esteury Ruiz sent to the Brewers.

"Josh Hader is one of the best closers in the league," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said.

"He's been there, done that, pitched in big spots, big playoff games. He's got elite stuff."

Hader, who has been with the Brewers since 2017, joins the Padres who have a 57-46 record to sit second in the National League West this season.

"Thank you for the support throughout my career," Hader wrote on Instagram. "Y'all have been great to me. The people, the energy, the love! There will always be a special place in my heart for MKE."

In other moves, the New York Yankees added right-handed starting pitcher Frankie Montas and closer Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics, along with reliever Scott Effross from the Chicago Cubs.

The Yankees, who have a 69-34 record, had previously brought in All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals.

The Houston Astros acquired first baseman Trey Mancini from the Baltimore Orioles along with catcher Christian Vazquez from the Boston Red Sox.

According to reports, outfielder Tommy Pham is set to join the Red Sox from the Cincinnati Reds.