Salvador Perez hit a home run and thanked the Rally Mantis with a smooch

Since the first Rally Mantis appeared in the Royals' dugout on Aug. 6, the Royals have gone 17-4, including a season-best nine-game winning streak. And even though the original insect has since been replaced, during their 10-4 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday, the creepy bug magic appeared to be at work again.
In the second inning, Salvador Perez opened up the scoring by hitting a solo home run over the Green Monster. Right after that, he gave the mantis a kiss:

Well, not the actual mantis, but its leaf-filled enclosure, likely because he didn't want it to misinterpret his show of affection and try to bite his head off (literally). Presumably the insect was pleased, because even though the Sox took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Royals came back with eight runs in the sixth to seal their mantis-inspired win.