Dairon Blanco’s suicide-squeeze bunt in the ninth inning pushed the Kansas City Royals past the visiting Seattle Mariners 7-6 on Monday.
Blanco’s bunt escaped first baseman Dylan Moore’s grasp as pinch runner Samad Taylor raced home with the game winner.
After the Mariners scored six unanswered runs over the eighth and ninth innings to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth, Salvador Perez tied the score in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly. It was his fourth RBI of the game, and it moved Taylor to third.
Julio Rodriguez drove in four runs for Seattle, which was held without a hit until the seventh inning.
Royals starter Brady Singer was perfect until issuing a four-pitch walk with two out in the fifth, and Dominic Canzone singled with two out in the seventh. Singer pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk, striking out eight.
After the Mariners drover Singer from the mound in the eighth, Rodriguez delivered a bases-clearing double off Carlos Hernandez. Eugenio Suarez’s single brought in Rodriguez to cap the four-run burst and trim the deficit to 5-4.
Austin Cox started the ninth on the mound for the Royals and walked two of three batters he faced, before Josh Rojas hit a two-out single off Nick Wittgren to tie the score. Rodriguez followed with an RBI single for a 6-5 lead.
Wittgren (1-0) picked up the win, and Matt Brash (8-4) surrendered two hits and two runs in the ninth for the loss.
Perez clubbed a three-run homer 429 feet to center as Kansas City grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first. Maikel Garcia singled leading off the frame, extending his career-best hitting streak to 16 games, a club record for rookies.
Kansas City added to its lead when Bobby Witt Jr.’s sharp liner escaped right fielder Canzone, rolling to the fence for an inside-the-park home run, the Royals’ first since Aug. 9, 2019.
Witt collected four of Kansas City’s 13 hits for his 38th multi-hit game. He is hitting .417 with 21 RBIs in 20 games since July 22.
A bases-loaded walk to Garcia in the sixth expanded the Royals’ advantage to 5-0.
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since he went three innings a 9-4 loss at the Los Angeles Angels on June 11.
Seattle has lost three straight since a season-best eight-game winning streak.
–Field Level Media
