KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A second consecutive rough start on Tuesday night helped the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 9-6 at Kauffman Stadium.
Lefty Ryan Verdugo’s Major League debut didn’t go so well. In 1 2/3 innings, Verdugo (0-1, 32.40 ERA) gave up six runs on eight hits, striking out two and walking two.
First baseman Justin Smoak homered for the second straight night, a two-run blast that gave Seattle a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
The Mariners (39-53, 22-26 away) weren’t done. In the second, they added three more runs to make it 6-0.
The Royals (38-51, 15-27 home) answered with a three-run inning in the third. Center fielder Jarrod Dyson tripled, and Alex Gordon knocked him in with an RBI triple. Billy Butler’s RBI single cut the deficit to 6-3.
Vin Mazzaro relieved Verdugo, and actually managed to stop the bleeding for a couple of innings. That didn’t last long.
Center fielder Michael Saunders hit a two-run HR to put Seattle up 8-3 in the fifth inning. That was it for Mazzaro (6.12 ERA), who gave up three runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.
The rest of Kansas City’s bullpen tossed five scoreless innings.
Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run HR in the seventh, but the damage was already done.
Royals lefty Bruce Chen (7-8, 5.50 ERA) takes the hill against Mariners right-hander Kevin Millwood (3-7, 3.71 ERA) for game three on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
