Royals 9, Mariners 7: Alcides Escobar hit a grand slam and Johnny Giavotella belted a go-ahead three-run homer as Kansas City outslugged host Seattle to gain a split of the four-game series.

Giavotella’s blast off Danny Farquhar (1-1) capped a four-run seventh inning while the Royals’ bullpen combined for 4 1/3 scoreless frames. Louis Coleman (1-0) worked the sixth for the win and Greg Holland tossed 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-high five errors. Alex Gordon recorded his second three-hit performance of the series for Kansas City.

Escobar’s grand slam in the second inning off Roenis Elias opened the scoring, but Seattle got three runs back in the third on Ackley’s solo shot off Jeremy Guthrie and Brad Miller’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 Hart’s run-scoring single in the fifth increased Seattle’s advantage before Lorenzo Cain hit a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded to ignite Kansas City’s four-run seventh. Giavotella followed with the decisive shot 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 frames. … Kansas City had four extra-base hits in the finale after recording just one over the first three games of the series. … Mariners OF Michael Saunders (knee) was held out of the starting lineup after being injured in Saturday’s game and struck out in the eighth as a pinch hitter.