KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Hisashi Iwakuma frustrated the Kansas City Royals offense, holding them to one run in 6 2/3 innings as the Seattle Mariners earned a 3-2 victory Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Iwakuma allowed five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

Steve Cichek pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 26 chances. He allowed a one-out home run to Salvador Perez in the frame.

Iwakuma (9-6) left with two outs and runners on the corners in the seventh. Edwin Diaz retired Jarrod Dyson on a ground out to second to end the threat.

Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura (6-7) had a solid outing, but he didn't receive enough offensive support. He gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one.

The Royals (44-42)have dropped six of their last eight games.

Seattle (44-43) got two strange runs in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. Ventura retired the first two batters before Seth Smith singled and Robinson Cano doubled, sending Smith to third. Nelson Cruz lined a long foul ball down the right-field line.

The umpires initially signaled it was a home run, but the call was quickly changed to a foul ball. The umpires reviewed the play and the decision was upheld, sending the runners back to second and third.

Ventura then threw a wild pitch, scoring Smith. The ball caromed away from the catcher Perez, whose throw back to Ventura was wide, allowing Cano to score.

Both starting pitchers were sharp early.

Ventura gave up just one hit in the first four innings with four strikeouts. Iwakuma didn't allow a runner until two outs in the third.

Iwakuma gave up back-to-back singles to Dyson and Alex Gordon, but retired Whit Merrifield on a groundout to second. He struck out five in the first three innings.

The Royals finally got to Iwakuma in the fourth.

With two outs, he walked Salvador Perez, who moved to second on a single by Paulo Orlando. Cheslor Cuthbert stroked a single to left to score Perez, but Orlando strayed too far past second and was picked off.

The Mariners answered in the fifth.

Kyle Seager led off with a double, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. He moved to third on a deep fly ball to right by Adam Lind and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ketel Marte.

NOTES: Seattle INF Dae-Ho Lee was held out of the starting lineup with a sore hand. Manager Scott Servais said that Lee was available to pinch-hit if necessary...Only two players in the Mariners' starting lineup were hitting above .222 in their career against Ventura entering Friday's game...Iwakuma was 3-0 (1.61 ERA) all-time against the Royals heading into Friday's action, while Ventura was 0-3 (4.34 ERA) all-time against the Mariners...Ventura has allowed a stolen base to four baserunners in 446 1/3 innings, which is the second-lowest ratio (Dallas Braden, 491 1/3 innings) in the Major Leagues since 1974.