Mariners belt seven HRs while pounding Royals

Teoscar Hernandez hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in a season-best six runs and the Seattle Mariners tied the franchise mark with seven homers while routing the visiting Kansas City Royals 15-2 Saturday afternoon.

Josh Rojas, Mike Ford, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Cade Marlowe also homered for the Mariners, who established a season-high for runs. Logan Gilbert pitched seven strong innings for Seattle, which has won 10 of its past 11 games to move into a first-place tie with the Texas Rangers in the American League West.

Drew Waters went deep for the Royals, who have lost six of their past seven games.

Gilbert (12-5) allowed one run on two hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts. The only hits he allowed were a third-inning single by Dairon Blanco and Waters’ solo shot in the fifth.

The Royals’ Jordan Lyles (3-15) was lifted after allowing seven runs in the third inning — including three homers. The right-hander gave up six hits, walked three and fanned four. It was reminiscent of an Aug. 15 start in Kansas City, when he allowed four Mariners homers in the fourth inning.

After going scoreless for the first two innings, the Mariners plated runs in every other inning in which they batted.

The Mariners sent 10 batters to the plate in the third as they broke a scoreless tie. Rojas led off with a homer just inside the right-field foul pole. J.P. Crawford doubled and, with one out, Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh walked to load the bases. Hernandez lined a 1-1 sinker just over the left-field wall to make it 5-0. It was his third career grand slam.

With two outs, Dominic Canzone singled and Ford hit a two-run shot to right.

The Mariners added a run in the fourth as reliever Jackson Kowar walked the bases loaded before a run scored on Hernandez’s groundout.

In the fifth, Crawford delivered a two-out RBI single. Rodriguez added a two-run shot to left-center off Kowar to become the fastest Seattle player to reach 50 career homers (256), surpassing Alex Rodriguez (269).

Raleigh led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer off Angel Zerpa.

Royals reliever Tucker Davidson walked Ford in the seventh before Marlowe’s two-run shot to straightaway center made it 14-1.

The Royals scored a run in the eighth as Samad Taylor and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back doubles off reliever Like Weaver.

Hernandez hit a 446-foot solo shot off infielder Matt Duffy in the eighth to cap the scoring.