Angels Rookie Carlos Perez Hits Game Winning Home Run In Major League Debut

Probably every baseball player dreams of making it to the major leagues and hitting a home run to win their first game, but only three have actually done it, the last being current Tigers’ slugger Miguel Cabrera, who did it as a member of the then Florida Marlins in 2003. He was the last, that is, until Los Angeles Angels rookie catcher Carlos Perez hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on May 5th. He also had a single in his first major league plate appearance.

The 24 year old Venezuela native was hitting a blistering .361 at Triple A Salt Lake City when he was called up. Perez isn’t known for power—he hit a career high of six in 88 minor league games last year, but if you don’t hit many, you might as well make ‘em count.

The Angels and Mariners are both off to slow starts. Los Angeles improved to 12-15 and are in second place in the American League West , six games behind the high flying Houston Astros. Seattle fell to 11-16 and is in fourth place in the A.L. West.