By Jayson Henderson

Salvador Perez hit his 20th home run of the season Saturday in the Royals’ 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays, becoming the franchise leader in 20-homer seasons with nine. He passed Hall of Famer George Brett for the top spot.

The sixth-inning solo shot off Max Scherzer was Perez’s second homer in as many games and his 11th in the last 21. He now has 293 career home runs, just seven away from 300. Only seven catchers in MLB history have reached that mark, with six in the Hall of Fame.

Perez has hit safely in 37 of his last 51 games and finished July with a 1.098 OPS.

Despite his homer, the Royals went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Noah Cameron allowed four runs over 6 1/3 innings in the loss.

Perez said he hopes to reach 300 this year: “I love what I do. I just want to help us win.”