Tribe closer Chris Perez becomes proud father

CLEVELAND -- It's not often that Chris Perez is at a loss for words. But the Indians closer had to pause before verbalizing the emotions he felt regarding the birth of his son Friday.

"You're tired, excited, happy, worried -- everything," said Perez, who returned to the Tribe on Monday for its series opener against the Tigers. "It's life-changing, for sure. It puts a lot of stuff in perspective. I definitely have a different respect for my wife."

Melanie Perez delivered Maxwell Alexander, who weighed in at five pounds and 15 ounces.

"He's doing good," Perez said. "He's eating well and putting his food down. If he was any bigger, I don't know if he would have come out naturally."

In Perez's absence, Vinnie Pestano closed the Indians' 5-3 win over the Royals on Sunday for his first Major League save.

"It's a feather in his cap," Perez said. "It was nice for our team, too. That's a big win for us to get another game up on the Royals. Obviously, we don't want to finish last. Finishing in fourth [place in the American League Central] would be awesome."



(mlb.com)