A cat runs through the infield at Kauffman Stadium during the fourth inning of the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday at Kansas City, Mo. The Mariners won, 11-6. Story on page 1B.

Kansas City starting pitcher Kyle Davies walks off the field after being pulled in the fourth inning. The Royals lost to the Mariners, 11-6, on Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. ? When a gray cat scampered onto the field and momentarily halted play during yet another dreadful effort by the Kansas City Royals, one thing puzzled Trey Hillman.

“I was surprised it wasn’t entirely black,” deadpanned the manager with the second-worst record in the majors.

Ichiro Suzuki had his major league-leading 52nd multi-hit game and Russell Branyan and Jose Lopez drove in three runs apiece to lead the Seattle Mariners to an 11-6 victory Wednesday night that dropped Hillman’s hapless Royals to 1-10 in their last 11 home games.

Everyone in the Seattle lineup had a hit and only two failed to score as the Royals’ overall record dropped to 41-66, second only to the Washington Nationals for worst in the majors. If they do not come out of this nosedive, the Royals are headed for their fifth 100-loss season in eight years after breaking spring training hoping to compete, finally, in the AL Central.

“This is the major leagues,” said Hillman, coming under increasing criticism in his second year as manager. “You’ve got to play like a major league team and in order to do that you’ve got to put your offense, your defense and your pitching all together and be more consistent than we’ve been able to be.”

Luke French (2-2) worked five innings in his first start since being acquired from Detroit and gave up four runs on nine hits, including two-run home runs by Alex Gordon and Billy Butler, who also had an RBI single.

Kyle Davies (3-8) had a nightmarish start on the day he was called up from a successful six-week stint in Triple-A. The right-hander retired the first seven batters, gave up two runs in the third inning, then fell apart in a six-run fourth while allowing eight runs on eight hits in just 32?3 innings.

The Mariners pounded out double-digit hits for the second straight night and have won five of their last eight games.

“It was a nice win to get two in a row here and get back on track,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “With what’s going on with our starters right now, we need everybody to contribute and step up and take some stress off the bullpen.”

Suzuki was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI for the Mariners.

The first boos from the crowd of almost 28,000 came when Davies made an errant pickoff attempt that wound up moving a runner from second to third base, and then uncorked a wild pitch that let him trot home.

Hillman is confident the fans are not going to be disappointed in his team’s effort regardless of how bad things get.

“I still see hustle,” he said. “There’s been a couple of letdowns because of the dismal performance. But I still see enough signs that these guys still have enough pride to continue to play the game hard.