Salvador Perez hit a scorching liner off the glove of third baseman Adrian Beltre for a single, allowing the go-ahead run to score in the eighth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 2-1.

Jason Frasor (4-1) left runners on the corners in the eighth against his former team, and Aaron Crow worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his third save of the season.

All-Star closer Greg Holland was unavailable after pitching three consecutive days.

The Rangers’ Derek Holland and counterpart Jeremy Guthrie pitched to a stalemate through seven innings before the Royals broke through against Michael Kirkman (0-1) in the eighth.