Lopez had only five games last year as the No. 3 man. He owned a .260 average this season and a six-game hitting streak coming into Wednesday's game in Kansas City.

Griffey, back in the lineup after three days off thanks mostly to a bout with diverticulitis, came in with a .190 average.

"It's something I think we have to do," Wakamatsu said. "Moving Kenny down in the batting order at least for a little bit makes some sense."

The move paid some immediate dividends, as Lopez went 2-for-4 and Griffey went 1-for-3.

On Saturday, Wakamatsu flopped third baseman Adrian Beltre and first baseman Russell Branyan in the batting order, installing Branyan as the cleanup hitter while moving Beltre to fifth.

Branyan is on a tear, hitting .353 (12-for-34) in his last eight games. Beltre, meanwhile, is batting .204 this season.

ROYALS 9, MARINERS 1: Struggling RHP Carlos Silva found no salvation in Kansas City, giving up three runs in the first inning and getting knocked out of Wednesday's game after three innings.

Silva, 1-3 with an 8.48 ERA through six starts, had a chance to get out of the first down just 1-0. But with two outs and nobody on base, he hit RF Jose Guillen, then gave up a double to 1B Billy Butler and a single to DH Mike Jacobs.

A shakeup of the Seattle lineup by manager Don Wakamatsu didn't do much to improve the sluggish offense, which was down 8-0 before 3B Adrian Beltre's sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. The Mariners have scored just three runs in their last two games.

Wednesday's game was just the second meeting of the two teams when both have been in first place. The first time was July 17, 2003.