Kansas City Royals surrender seven home runs in 15-2 rout at the Seattle Mariners

It was clear skies in the Pacific Northwest on Saturday afternoon. But Kansas City Royals starter Jordan Lyles was stuck in his own personal rainstorm.

There was a lot of hail and plenty of thunder in the form of the Seattle Mariners’ bats.

The Mariners battered Lyles across three innings of work. Lyles allowed seven runs on six hits, surrendering three home runs, and Seattle cruised to a 15-2 victory at T-Mobile Park.

By the time the game ended, Seattle had hit a whopping seven home runs. The Royals, who mustered five hits, dropped to 41-90.

“We got our brains beat in today and will be back here tomorrow,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

The Royals had no answers for the Mariners’ red-hot offense. In the third inning, Lyles was in the proverbial eye of the storm. He threw 46 pitches as the Mariners sent 10 men to the plate.

Lyles allowed a solo home run to infielder Josh Rojas. Later, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez crushed a grand slam over the left-field wall. It was the first of two homers for Hernandez, who finished with six RBIs.

The Mariners weren’t finished. Designated hitter Mike Ford hit a two-run homer that traveled 373 feet and had a 106.4 mph exit velocity.

“It was some bad-located pitches and a couple of walks that I obviously wish I could have back,” Lyles said. “It steamrolled and got out of hand.”

The inning was a microcosm of Lyles’ season. He’s given up home runs and prolonged scoring binges by the opponent. Lyles has allowed at least three runs in a single frame in 14 of his 25 starts (15 total instances).

He has been charged with 61 runs in that span. Those runs account for 56% of his 109 total runs allowed this season.

“Overall, they got to him in that inning,” Quatraro said. “Forty-pitch inning, it was a really rough inning all around for him.”

And in this game, the Mariners continued to pile it on. All-Star outfielder Julio Rodriguez hit his 22nd home run of the season, off Royals reliever Jackson Kowar. Cal Raleigh and Cade Marlowe also went deep.

Seattle’s seven homers tied a franchise record and set a new mark for most in a single game at T-Mobile Park.

KC scored two runs via Drew Waters’ solo shot and Maikel Garcia’s RBI double. The rest of the offense had trouble figuring out Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, who picked up his 12th victory in a quality start. Gilbert struck out seven and allowed one run in seven innings.

“He’s good,” Quatraro said. “He’s got plus stuff and is upper-90s with his fastball. He has a good slider and throws a ton of strikes. He makes you beat him.”

The Royals have lost six of eight games on this road trip and will look to avoid a series sweep Sunday afternoon.

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Royals put up valiant effort but drop series opener 7-5 to Mariners

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Here are more notables from Saturday’s game:

Drew Waters hits eighth home run

The Royals fell behind early against the Mariners. The offense was non-existent against Mariners ace Logan Gilbert.

Waters had the biggest hit for KC: a solo home run. He hit a 96.9 mph fastball into the right-field seats.

“I feel good at the plate,” Waters said. “I’m not doing anything that drastically different. It’s baseball, and there is up and downs. Luckily, I’m feeling pretty good in the box.”

The homer eliminated a potential shutout. This season, Waters has eight home runs, 26 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He finished 1 for 3 Saturday.

What’s next: The Royals conclude their three-game series against the Mariners on Sunday. The Royals will start rookie Alec Marsh against veteran hurler Luis Castillo.