The Mariners had opportunities on Saturday against the Royals, but the big hit never came.

Seattle went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position on the day and tied a season high by leaving 13 men on base in a 4-2 loss to Kansas City at T-Mobile Park, the Mariners’ third straight defeat to start this four-game set. The Mariners also left 13 runners on base in Friday's 8-7 loss in 12 innings.

“Unfortunately, the story for this one is just not timely hitting with runners in scoring position,” manager Scott Servais said. “Something we've been very good at throughout the season.”

Tyler Anderson kept the Mariners in the ballgame on the pitching side, limiting the Royals to three runs over seven-plus innings of work in his start, but Seattle’s only runs came on a bases-loaded walk from Cal Raleigh in the fifth inning and Luis Torrens' RBI double in the ninth.

Thus far in this weekend series, the Mariners have lacked the clutch moments that have kept the club in the AL Wild Card race. That lack of production in key moments has come back to haunt them upon returning home after a road trip that included a two-game sweep of the A’s in Oakland.

With the loss, Seattle fell to two behind the A's in the Wild Card chase and fourth overall -- 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox for the second Wild Card spot. They entered Thursday's series opener having won seven of their last 10, trailing the Red Sox by 2 1/2 games and the A’s by one.

“[When] you play as many games as we do, there's going to be streaks,” Servais said of his team's struggles. “And you get in stretches where every ball you hit in those key spots falls. It finds a hole, it goes in. And we certainly have had those stretches. We're just coming off one. We had a great road trip. We did get a lot of things going our way on that trip. That's what happens.”

The Mariners had runners reach base in each of the game’s first three innings and, in each instance, their bats came up empty against Royals starter Daniel Lynch, who held them to one run over 4 2/3 innings.

Lynch was removed from the game after loading the bases with two outs in the fifth inning, but Jarred Kelenic flied out to left field against reliever Domingo Tapia to end the threat, Seattle settling for just the one run on Raleigh's walk.

“We had a ton of traffic,” Servais said. “We had a lot of hits and a lot of really good at-bats, but those rallies sometimes came together with two outs, and you need that big hit or that big double to kind of get you some space and get the offense going. It just didn't happen today.”

The Mariners have stranded 34 runners on base in their first three games against the Royals, indicative of the difficulties they've met since returning to T-Mobile Park.

Meanwhile, the Royals have been lifted by key blast after key blast -- like the two-run home run Anderson gave up to Salvador Perez, who has lofted a long ball in each of the series' first three games.

“It's been a rough series against the Royals,” Servais said. “The games have been very close, very competitive. They have gotten the big hit and we haven't, which, [if] you don't do that in this league, it's tough to win games.”