Mariners 2, Royals 1: Dustin Ackley singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the top of the ninth to lift visiting Seattle to its second straight win over Kansas City.

Kyle Seager had a pair of hits and scored the decisive run and Cole Gillespie added an RBI single as the Mariners improved to 5-2 in their last seven games. Yoervis Medina (4-1) struck out two in one inning and closer Fernando Rodney got the final three outs for his 20th save after starter Chris Young permitted one run and three hits over seven innings.

Alex Gordon swatted a solo homer for the Royals, who managed three hits - all in one inning - in dropping their third straight following a 10-game winning streak. Jason Vargas (7-3) absorbed the hard-luck defeat, giving up two runs and 10 hits in a season-high 8 2/3 innings.

Sitting at 93 pitches through eight innings, Vargas retired the first two batters in the ninth before Seager doubled to right and moved to third when second baseman Pedro Ciriaco couldn't handle Stefen Romero's infield single. Manager Ned Yost stayed with Vargas and it backfired when Ackley lined a single into right to plate Seager with the go-ahead run.

Seattle strung together three straight hits in the third inning on an infield single by Brad Miller, an opposite-field poke by James Jones and Gillespie's blooper to center for a 1-0 lead. Young sat down the first 12 batters he faced before Gordon led off the fifth by pouncing on a 3-2 pitch and golfing it over the Mariners' bullpen in right field to knot it at 1-1.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Royals DH Billy Butler went 0-for-3 and saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end. ... Mariners 2B Robinson Cano was hitless in four at-bats to snap his 21-game road hitting streak. ... The Royals placed CF Nori Aoki on the 15-day disabled list due to a groin injury and called up OF Justin Maxwell from Triple-A Omaha.