Royals 9, Mariners 7: Alcides Escobar hit a grand slam and Johnny Giavotella hit a go-ahead three-run homer as Kansas City outslugged host Seattle to gain a split of the four-game series.
Giavotellaâ??s blast off Danny Farquhar (1-1) capped a four-run seventh inning and the Royalsâ?? bullpen combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Louis Coleman (1-0) worked a scoreless sixth for the win and Greg Holland closed it out with a perfect ninth for his ninth save.
Dustin Ackley went 3-for-4 with two homers for Seattle, which had 11 hits but also committed a season-worst five errors. Alex Gordon had his second three-hit game of the series for Kansas City.
Escobarâ??s grand slam in the second inning off Roenis Elias staked the Royals to a 4-0 lead and Seattle got three back in the third on Ackleyâ??s solo shot off Jeremy Guthrie and Brad Millerâ??s two-run double. Kansas City led 5-3 in the fourth before Kyle Seager hit a two-run homer and Ackley followed with a solo blast to give the Mariners a 6-5 lead.
Corey Hartâ??s run-scoring single pushed Seattleâ??s advantage to 7-5 in the fifth before Lorenzo Cain hit a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded for Kansas Cityâ??s first run of a four-run seventh. Giavotella followed with the decisive three-run blast to left off Farquhar.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Elias allowed five runs (three earned) and nine hits in five innings, while Guthrie gave up seven runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. â? Kansas City had four extra-base hits in the finale after having just one over the first three games of the series. â? Mariners OF Michael Saunders (knee) was held out of the starting lineup after being injured in Saturdayâ??s game and struck out in the eighth as a pinch hitter.
