Carlos Silva is back, trying to win his second game since April and his fifth of the season against 14 losses.
He got a little break in the first inning. Down 1-0 with a runner on second base, Mark Teahan singled home a second run. It was negated a moment later when the Mariners appealed - Ryan Shealy had missed third base.
Into the second, the Mariners have gone six up, six down.
Royals 1, Mariners 0 ...

Mariners are hurrying to and from the plate, but the Royals got three consecutive singles against Silva in the fourth inning.
It's the curse of the sinker specialist - two ground balls got through the infield, a opposite-field pop fly fell fo a a hit and there's a run
Seattle batters have yet to reach base.
Royals 2, Mariners 0 ...

The Mariners are a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to grounding into double plays, but they are the best at absolutely gutting promising rallies with them.
They got a couple of hits in the sixth to put runners at first and third base and were threatening when Yuniesky Betancourt grounded into a double play.
It's no one player, but the Mariners do seem to have an uncanny ability to stop themselves. That's a league-leading 57 double plays with runners in scoring position.
Royals 2, Mariners 0 ...

Weird seventh inning: Alex Gordon singldd and Albert Callaspo doubled - but Ichiro threw Gordon out trying to score.
Callaspo ended up at third base on the play, and scored on an infield single when Betancour and rookie Luis Valbuena collided trying to field the ball.
Royals 3, Mariners 0 ...

Ichiro Suzuki leads the Mariners with 41 stolen bases this season, but hasn’t run aggressively in the second half – he has only seven steals since the All-Star break.

Why?

Ichiro said it’s because pitchers are hyper-aware of him on base and adjust their deliveries to stop him from running. They slide-step, a tactic that shortens the leg kick and gets the ball to the catcher more quickly.

His manager, Jim Riggleman, has seen it for months.

“Teams do things to stop Ichiro they don’t do against anyone else on our team,” Riggleman said.

On Sunday, the Mariners stole three bases and set up two of their runs against the Angels. Yet when Ichiro singled in the seventh inning with the game tied, he didn’t try to steal.

“Our stolen bases came against Ervin Santana, who had a high leg kick,” Riggleman said. “When Ichiro got aboard, Jose Arredondo was pitching – and he used a slide step with Ichiro on first.

“If he’d have run, he’d have been out.”

“All teams look at our team, and they see that I am the only base stealer,” Ichiro said. “It was different when Willie Bloomquist was here, but now they do everything they can to stop me.

“You cannot do more than you are capable of,” Ichiro said. “You should not do less than you are capable of, but you cannot do more or there will be a negative effect.”

Like most teams, the Mariners have a stop watch on every opposing pitcher, and a time they look for to maximize a stolen base attempt.

They also know the time it takes for every cattcher in the league to throw to second base.

If those two times combined are in their favor, the Mariners run.

When pitchers use the slide step, the times - and the chances of a successful steal - change.

All base stealers face those odds. Some challenge them.

Ichiro and the team are a bit more conservative.

But they have their reasons - and there they are.