The Kansas City Royals struck out 17 times, but it was Lucas Erceg’s two punchouts in the tenth inning that gave the Royals a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, May 2 at T-Mobile Park.

The Mariners honored Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson before the game by retiring his number 51, then proceeded to have their pitchers strike out 17 of the Royals’ batters. That included three strike outs each of Salvador Perez, Carter Jensen, and Michael Massey. Emerson Hancock recorded all but three of the strikeouts in his seven-inning start, allowing six hits. One of those hits was a double to Maikel Garcia in the third that tied the game at one apiece.

Seth Lugo posted a respectable start, going six innings and allowing two runs on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out six. He allowed the first RBI of the game to Josh Naylor, who singled in the first, and then gave the Mariners the lead in the fifth with a wild pitch and the bases loaded.

The Royals rallied in the ninth when Perez opened the frame with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Lane Thomas, who advanced to second on a balk. With one out, Jac Caglianone sent a single to center field that scored Thomas, and turned into a three-base hit when Julio Rodríguez mishandled the ball. The Royals then took the lead in the tenth, when leadoff runner Michael Massey promptly stole third and came home on Garcia’s sacrifice fly.

Matt Strahm collected his first win of the year after pitching a scoreless ninth, while Cooper Criswell took the loss for Seattle and Andrés Muñoz registered his second blown save of the year.

The win keeps the Royals (14-19) three-and-a-half games behind Cleveland for the AL Central lead, and lifted them out of the division cellar by a half-game over Minnesota. The Royals can sweep the Mariners on Sunday afternoon when Kris Bubic takes the mound for KC against Luis Castillo. First pitch is at 3:10 p.m., with pregame at 2:30 p.m. on KMMO AM 1300.