Justin Smoak hit his first home run in nearly three months, a two-run shot in the sixth inning, to help the Seattle Mariners win 4-1 the Royals Thursday night.
Smoak hit a 1-1 fastball from Luke Hochevar (10-11) into the right-field seats for his 13th to break a 1-1 tie. He had gone 48 games between home runs. Hochevar struck out a career nine, but also allowed another home run to Ichiro in the first inning.
The Royals had tied the game up in the sixth on a RBI single from Eric Hosmer.