Bale struggles as Royals fall to Mariners 11-6

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The Royals opened the game with singles by David DeJesus and Mark Grudzielanek and turned them into a 1-0 lead on Butler’s sacrifice fly.

The lead lasted just two hitters into the Seattle first. Suzuki led off with a double and stole third before scoring on Lopez’s sacrifice fly to left.

Bale gave up two more runs in the second after José Vidro led off with a ground-rule double. Richie Sexson reached on a walk before Willie Bloomquist pushed an RBI single into right.

Betancourt made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to center. Three singles in the third extended the lead to 4-1 and matched the number of runs yielded by the Royals in 33 innings before Tuesday’s game.

The Royals pulled even by scoring three times in the fourth, but Bale and the bullpen couldn’t capitalize on the second chance.

The Mariners chased Bale in a two-run fourth and roughed up Nomo and Mahay in a four-run fifth. The bullpen had allowed just four runs in 31 previous innings this season. So maybe it, too, was overdue for a mulligan.

“When you have days like this,” Hillman said, “you try to keep it in perspective.”

And count the days. Bannister goes Friday in Oakland.

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To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com