MLB: Kansas City 3, Seattle 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 7 (UPI) -- Brian Bannister gave up five singles in six scoreless innings Thursday to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-1 win over Seattle.

The victory extended Kansas City's winning steak to six straight.

Bannister (3-0) walked one batter and fanned seven in 105 pitches.

Closer Joakim Soria earned his seventh save.

At the plate, KC's Billy Butler had two hits and one RBI.

A run scored on Ronny Cedeno's third-inning fielding error and the lone hit for Mike Aviles was a fifth-inning RBI single for the Royals, who won for the eighth time in their last nine contests.

Seattle's only run scored on Mike Sweeney's pinch ninth-inning single.

Ichiro Suzuki had three hits and Ken Griffey Jr., two, for the Mariners, who suffered their sixth straight loss to the Royals for the first time since 1989.

Losing pitcher Jarrod Washburn (3-2) gave up two runs -- one earned -- and six hits in seven innings with no walks and five strikeouts.