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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals’ Dairon Blanco dropped down a successful squeeze bunt to score pinch-runner Samad Taylor, giving Kansas City a wild 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Matt Brash and the Mariners.
Down 5-0 in the eighth inning, Julio Rodriguez had sparked a rally to give the Mariners a 6-5 entering the bottom of the ninth.
Brash, trying to close it out, allowed a leadoff single to Bobby Witt Jr. and a single to Michael Massey.
Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly scored Witt to tie the game, and Blanco dropped down the bunt on the first pitch he saw from Brash.
Brash’s blown save spoiled a late rally from Seattle’s offense.
Rodriguez hit a bases-loaded double in the eighth and then drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth as the Mariners erased a five-run deficit.
It was the first go-ahead hit in the ninth inning (or later) of Rodriguez’s career.
The Mariners were down to their final strike when Josh Rojas drove in the tying run with a line drive up the middle, scoring Teoscar Hernandez from second base.
It was Rojas’ biggest moment with his new club, two weeks after the Mariners acquired him in a trade with Arizona for closer Paul Sewald.
Royals right-hander Brady Singer had taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning to help Kansas City (39-81) build a 5-0 lead into the eighth.
Dominic Canzone’s sharp single broke up Singer’s no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh inning.
In the eighth, Mike Ford doubled off Singer, whose final pitch of the night was an inside fastball that plunked Dylan Moore.
The Royals brought in their closer, Carlos Hernandez, who allowed a sharp single to Rojas, loading the bases for Rodriguez.
Rodriguez then laced an 0-1 slider into the left-field corner.
The Mariners (63-55) have lost three in a row since their eight-game winning streak was snapped Saturday.
Perez hit a three-run home run in the first inning off Logan Gilbert, who had his shortest outing in more than two months. Gilbert’s final line: 4.1 innings, seven hits, four runs, two walks and five strikeouts.
It was Perez’s 12th home run in 57 games against the Mariners.
Bobby Witt Jr. was credited with an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning. The Royals shortstop, one of the fastest players in MLB, made it around the bases in 14.3 seconds after Canzone lost his hard-hit line drive in the lights.
Mariners rookie reliever Isaiah Campbell, called on with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, walked in a run to extend the Royals’ lead to 5-0.
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