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Perez's walk-off double sends Royals past Mariners

[July 08, 2016] KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Brooks Pounders doesn't have a name plate in his locker in the Kansas City Royals clubhouse. That likely will change before Friday's game.

Pounders, in just his second game in the major leagues, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with the Royals down a run. A two-run rally, highlighted by Salvador Perez's two-run double, gave Pounders his first major league victory in a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.

"This is special; it's a great moment in my life," Pounders said, "I think (the nameplate) is in the works. It's not something I'm worrying about.

"I just had to go out there (in the ninth) and make pitches, and let the defense do its job behind me. To walk away with a win in that game is unbelievable. It says a lot about the team we have here."

The Royals scored two runs in the eighth to draw within one run before Pounders' appearance in the top of the ninth.

Whit Merrifield led off the bottom of the ninth with a double. Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch, and Jarrod Dyson pinch ran. After Eric Hosmer struck out, Perez launched one over the head of center fielder Leonys Martin scoring both runners.

"I tried to see something up, out over the plate," Perez said. "That's my job, to hit the ball in the gap and hit the ball hard.

"He threw me a good pitch and I hit it pretty good."

Steve Cishek (2-5) took the loss for Seattle.

The Royals now stand 28-11 at home this season, the best home record in baseball.

The Mariners wasted an efficient effort from starter James Paxton. Paxton threw just 57 pitches in the first seven innings.

The Royals finally made Paxton work in the eighth. Back-to-back singles by Perez and Cheslor Cuthbert started the inning. They both scored on a two-out single by Paulo Orlando. But Alex Gordon flew out to center to end the inning. Paxton gave up two runs on seven hits, with one walk and two strikeouts in eight innings.

"(I was) just moving the fastball around, using the cutter in," Paxton said. "It was really good. They were popping up the cutter, hitting it on the ground. A lot of ground balls.

"Guys were making great plays behind me. That's what happens, guys turning double plays and making the good plays."

The Royals hitting has been all-or-nothing recently. In the last 25 games, Kansas City has hit .309 and scored 5.6 runs per game in 13 wins, but just .244 with 3.0 runs per game in 11 losses. On Thursday, they waited until the last moment, but it was enough.

"I don't know if you can (go from being) much more in control of the game to being on the wrong side of things, in an inning and a half," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "Pax pitched a good ballgame. I felt very good about leaving him out there in the eighth inning. He certainly didn't have many pitches. His stuff was still good.

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Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) connects for a single in the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

"Tough game to lose. We did some okay stuff offensively; didn't quite put them deep enough away where they could (be) in a position (to) come back. Disappointing."

Danny Duffy was outstanding for Kansas City (44-41). He gave up two runs on seven hits through 6 1/3 innings. He walked one -- his first in 88 batters -- and struck out seven.

"I felt like I battled through a lot," Duffy said. "I knew all along that the team would pick me up. I feel really good; I feel like I'm repeating pretty well. My slide step is helping my foot get down earlier, so it's been great."

The Mariners (43-43) spotted Paxton a run in the second and added another in the fifth. Nelson Cruz hit his 23rd home run of the season in the eighth off Joakim Soria to give the Mariners their final tally.

Paxton allowed runners to reach in each of the first three innings, including runners on first and second with nobody out in the third, but induced ground-ball double plays in all three frames.

Seattle scored in the second following a lead-off double to the gap in right-center by Dae-Ho Lee. He scored on Daniel Robertson's first hit as a Mariner, a single up the middle.

The Mariners added to their advantage in the fifth. Robertson led off with a double off the wall in left. He was sacrificed to third and scored on Ketel Marte's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Seattle 3B Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-out single in the fourth inning. ... Kansas City RHP Chris Young will not make his next scheduled start Sunday. Young, who is 2-8 with a 6.90 ERA this season, has just two quality starts out of 13. He's 0-3 with an 8.37 ERA in his last six starts. ... Seattle, which started 19-8 on the road this season, has now lost 15 of their last 17 road contests, including nine straight. ... The Mariners entered the night with 128 home runs, tied for second in the majors.

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