Julio Rodriguez collected four hits and the Seattle Mariners took advantage of a rare error by Maikel Garcia to slide past the host Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Wednesday.
The score was 4-4 in the eighth when Seattle’s Dylan Moore led off with a short-hop grounder to third base. Garcia couldn’t make the play on the backhand, his first error in 28 games.
Moore stole second and eventually scored on Teoscar Hernandez’s foul-ball sacrifice fly against Dylan Coleman (0-1). The play was challenged by Kansas City but allowed to stand.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo (9-7) surrendered four runs on nine hits in seven innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Seattle built an early lead against Royals opener James McArthur, plating three in the first, highlighted by Cal Raleigh’s first-pitch, two-run homer into the right field stands.
Garcia doubled on the first pitch leading off the bottom of the first, then scored on Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly. Garcia extended his hitting streak to 18 games, during which he is batting .338 (25-for-74).
Rodriguez hit an RBI single to right in the second inning, giving Seattle a 4-1 lead. He stole two bases later in the game, and his fourth hit added a ninth-inning insurance run.
Kansas City responded with single tallies in both the second and third, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Drew Waters opened the second inning with a leadoff triple, and he came home on Kyle Isbel’s sacrifice fly.
MJ Melendez’s two-out double plated Salvador Perez in the third. Melendez had three of the Royals’ 10 hits.
Hits by Melendez and Matt Beaty and a walk to Waters loaded the bases in the sixth ahead of Nelson Velazquez’s double-play grounder that tied the game 4-4.
Royals bulk-innings reliever Alec Marsh navigated through trouble for five innings, allowing a run on four hits. He walked five, though none of those batters scored, and he struck out six.
Velazquez led off the ninth with a solo homer into the left field stands, but Seattle right-hander Matt Brash rebounded to close out the game for his third save.
The Royals, who went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, have lost eight of their past 11 games. The Mariners got their second win in a row and will look to take the four-game series on Thursday afternoon.
–Field Level Media
