SEATTLE -- Jason Vargas used his "accelerator" to control the strike zone and it meant his first road victory of the season. It came at a place where he felt like home. Vargas allowed three hits over seven innings and the Kansas City Royals had 16 hits -- all singles -- in a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night. Vargas (3-1), who pitched for the Mariners for four seasons (2009-12), struck out six without a walk. He is 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in four career starts against his former team. His 2.30 ERA at Safeco Field is tied for the seventh best for a starter in park history Vargas signed a four-year, free-agent deal with the Royals in November. "When hes on his game, like he was tonight, he really works the accelerator really well," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He pushes down with the fastball, backs off with the changeup. Good curveball. "What pitchers like Vargie do so well is they disrupt the opposition hitters timing. He did that extremely well tonight." Vargas said controlling the strike zone is always his goal "but the execution is not always the same. ... Tonight I was able control counts and able to make pitches down in the strike zone." Salvador Perez, Eric Gordon and Eric Hosmer had three hits each for the Royals while Nori Aoki and Lorenzo Cain had two each. The Mariners have scored just two runs and have 10 hits over the past three games. Brandon Maurer (1-1) took the loss, allowing 14 hits, six runs -- four earned -- and did not walk or strike out a batter. The 14 hits Maurer allowed were just one short of the team record set by Greg Hibbard on May 24, 1994. "This was a weird, weird game," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Maurer threw the ball extremely well, gave up two hard hits. They were persistent, put the bat on the ball and found some holes. "It was one of those nights. I didnt look up to see if it was a full moon or not. It was weird." The first hit Vargas allowed came in the third, a one-out single by Mike Zunino. Shortstop Alcides Escobar knocked the hard grounder down but it rolled a few feet away. The other hits were Dustin Ackleys line single to centre in the fifth and Robinson Canos ground single to right in the seventh. "He mixed it up and threw strikes," Mariners third baseman Will Bloomquist said of Vargas. "I saw a couple changeups and they were kind of Jamie Moyer-like, coming out of the back of his hand and falling off pretty good. He threw the ball well." The Royals pieced together rallies off Maurer. Only one run scored on a hit. The rest scored on an error, a sacrifice fly, a double play and two on fielders choices. "We dont care how we get the runs," Hosmer said. "Any way we can produce them. Thats what we need to do. As an offence, we just have to bear down and find ways to produce runs." Aoki opened the game with a single to right followed by Hosmers single to right, with Aoki sprinting to third. Aoki scored on Billy Butlers bouncer to Bloomquist, who tried to start a double play but threw wildly to second, pulling Cano off the bag. Initially, the umpires ruled Hosmer safe on an apparent error but Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon challenged the call. After a review, it was ruled that Cano dragged his left toe across the bag while in possession of the ball. Hosmer was ruled out. Perez bounced into a double play to end the inning. Hosmers sacrifice fly in the third put the Royals up 2-0. Mariners shortstop Brad Millers throwing error in the fourth allowed two more runs. Perez opened with a single followed by a clean bunt single by Gordon. Johnny Giavotella then bounced a potential double-play ball to short but Millers flip to second sailed into right field and Perez scored. Gordon would later score the second run on Cains double-play grounder. Kansas City made it 5-0 in the sixth when Butler scored on Giavotellas fielders choice. Cains one-out single in the eighth scored Perez from second to make it 6-0, ending Maurers evening. The Mariners scored in the eighth off reliever Aaron Crow. Miller drew a one-out walk. Pinch-hitter James Jones then stroked a two-out double into the right-field corner. Miller had stopped at third then trotted home on right-fielder Aokis throwing error. NOTES: Mariners LHP James Paxton, who started the season at 2-0 before suffering a strained lat muscle, threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session before the game. RHP Taijuan Walker (right shoulder impingement) will have his first bullpen session Sunday. There is no timetable for either pitcher. Also, RHP Stephen Pryor, coming off shoulder surgery, is back with Triple-A Tacoma. . Kyle Seager was a late scratch for the Mariners because of flu-like symptoms. Bloomquist replaced him. . The Royals pre-game move to promote Giavotella was necessary because of Omar Infantes ailing back. Infante missed Thursdays game and will be rested for the series. Giavotella was hitting .352 for Triple-A Omaha. To make room, the club sent RHP Michael Mariot to Omaha. Buy NHL Jerseys 2020 . Its the second straight year he has decided not to play as he cuts back his schedule. Stricker was replaced in the field by Ryo Ishikawa of Japan. Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic . The team reported the signing on its website Thursday, but said Friday the deal was off in "a mutual parting of the ways that had to do with the language of the contract. https://www.nhljerseys2020.com/. The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Cheap NHL Jerseys From China . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. NHL Jerseys China . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep.Canadas World Junior team is once again preparing itself for Christmas overseas. Seeking to break a four-year gold medal drought, the hopes of Canadas under-20s will be looking towards Malmo, Sweden in hopes that this years crop can at least get back into the medals if not back to the top. But success overseas has not always been a guarantee for the Canadian World Juniors. Since the establishment of the Program of Excellence in 1981, the Canadian side has dominated tournaments held in North America, compiling a 76-12-3 record (.852 winning percentage) over 14 tournaments. Canada has only once failed to medal on their home continent (and that tournament was played in Alaska), racking up seven gold, five silver and one bronze. The track record has not been quite the same in Europe. While Canada has actually won more gold (eight) overseas, the European-hosted tournaments have provided some of Canadas greatest heartbreaks. The record itself isnt all that bad: 83-24-15 (.742 winning percentage) and Canada has actually won more golds in Europe than they have in North America, racking up eight - along with two silver and three bronze – over 18 tournaments since the start of the Program of Excellence. Hidden in that record, however, are some of the more painful memories in Canadas World Junior lore. The Piestany punch-up, the Heartbreak in Helsinki as well as Canadas two worst finishes since the 1982 tournament all came overseas. So, whats to blame for the difference? Certainly the added boost from fan support has helped their North American performance. After all, even the five tournaments held on American soil (save Anchorage) were close enough to the border to draw enterprising Canadian fans to the games. The flip side of that coin is the travel – and particularly the unfamiliarity during the holliday season – which must certainly weigh on the teenagers selected to wear the Maple Leaf abroad.dddddddddddd While several players have had experience abroad through the Under-18 World Championship tournaments and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial, those are summertime events that disrupt neither the players regular season junior schedules, nor their personal holiday traditions. Looking back particularly through Canadas history at World Junior tournaments hosted in Sweden, there is reason for optimism for Canadian fans looking forward to the 2014 Championship in Malmo. Canadas juniors are 16-2-2 in the last three Swedish-hosted tournaments having won a pair of golds and a bronze medal. Canadas last visit will be particularly memorable, with Jonathan Toews and Carey Price forging an unforgettable semifinal shootout performance against the United States en route to a gold medal at the 2007 tournament. In total Sweden has hosted the World Juniors five times and four since the Program of Excellences foundation with Canada finishing no worse than fourth since the Nykoping tournament in 1984. Karlstad hosted in 1979 with Canada finishing fifth on a team that featured future NHL All-Stars Brad McCrimmon and Brian Propp. So, how will Malmo treat the 2014 team? History dictates a medal is likely in the cards, since Canada has never failed to medal in successive tournaments since 1982. However, trends over the last 20 years have dictated that the golds come in clusters with a drought in between. Seven tournaments passed between the “Drive for Five” and the recent five-gold run ignited by the super-team featuring Sidney Crosby in 2005. Will Canada be able to cap the drought at four tournaments without gold? Rediscovering their luck in Sweden might well be the first step towards doing so. ' ' '