KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Dee Gordon got three hits and drove in two runs as the high-scoring Seattle Mariners extended baseball’s best record with a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
The Mariners improved to 11-2 and have scored at least five runs in 12 of those games. The Royals lost their eighth in a row.
Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 30 games, tying a Royals record set by George Brett in 1980. He led off the bottom of the first with an opposite-field triple to stretch a streak that began last Sept. 10 and included the final 20 games of the season.
But the Mariners have some impressive streaks of their own.
When Jay Bruce hit his AL-leading seventh home run in the first inning, the Mariners extended their string to 13 games at the start of a season with at least one home run, matching the Detroit Tigers in 2017. The 2002 Cleveland Indians (14 games) are the only team since 1908 to open the season with more games with home runs.
Seattle also matched the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals with the most home runs (33) through their first 13 games.
Merrifield scored the tying run in the first on an RBI single by Adalberto Mondesi.
Speedy Billy Hamilton scored from second base on a sacrifice fly when Mallex Smith fell down in deep center catching Mondesi’s drive, making it 2-all in the third.
Gordon had a two-run single in the fourth for a 4-2 lead.
Marco Gonzales (4-0) gave up two earned runs in six-plus innings. Anthony Swarzak pitched the ninth for his second save in two opportunities.
Jakob Junis (1-1) allowed four runs in four innings. Richard Lovelady, the Royals’ fourth pitcher of the night, pitched a perfect eighth inning in his major league debut.
