(My Sportsbook) - The Kansas City Royals start a seven-game homestand this evening with the first of four games against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals closed their seven-game road trip in winning fashion on Sunday, as Ryan Shealy homered twice and drove in five runs to lead Kansas City to a 13-3 thrashing of the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

Mike Aviles went 3-for-5 and scored three times for the Royals, who took the final three games of their four-game affair with Cleveland and have won four of five overall.

Brian Bannister (8-15) gave up three runs on six hits in six innings, with two strikeouts and a walk, to pick up the win.

Hoping to keep the Royals in the win column this evening will be righty Kyle Davies, who has lost five of his last six starts. Davies was tagged with the loss on Wednesday against Minnesota, as he allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, dropping him to 6-7 on the season, while raising his ERA to 4.70.

Davies received a no-decision in his only other start against the Mariners, surrendering three runs and six hits over seven innings of his team's 4-3 loss back on July 13.

Seattle will counter with righty Carlos Silva, who is 4-14 with a 6.53 ERA on the year. Silva hasn't won since June 28 and hasn't pitched since September 1 against Texas. He allowed six runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings that day, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 12-6 win.

Silva is 5-3 lifetime against the Royals with a 4.15 ERA in 13 starts.

Seattle enters this series on a sour note after getting swept in a four-game series over the weekend by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Mariners dropped the finale of the set on Sunday, 4-3, and have dropped five of their last six games.

Kansas City has won three of its five matchups with the Mariners this season.