PEORIA, Ariz. — The ACL Mariners saw their hold on first place in the Arizona Complex League West disappear Tuesday evening, falling 6-1 to the ACL Royals at the Peoria Sports Complex. The loss drops the Mariners into a tie with the Royals atop the division standings, with both clubs sitting at 26-17.

Seattle’s affiliate struck first, but the offense struggled to capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities as Kansas City’s pitching kept the Mariners from building on an early lead.

The Mariners wasted little time getting on the board in the opening inning. Nick Becker worked a one-out walk and immediately stole second before Dalton Davis lined a two-out RBI single into center field to give the Mariners an early 1-0 advantage.

That would be the only run the Mariners managed despite collecting seven hits and drawing five walks.

The Royals answered in the second after Manuel German was hit by a pitch and Sandy Luciano ripped a double into right field. A sacrifice fly from Ramcell Medina tied the game before a wild pitch by Mariners starter Po-Chun Lin allowed Luciano to score the go-ahead run.

Lin settled in following the two-run inning, retiring seven of the next eight hitters before running into trouble again in the fifth.

After Noah Barber doubled to begin the inning and Corey Cousin successfully advanced him with a sacrifice bunt, Pedro Roque launched a two-run home run to left field to extend the Royals’ lead to 5-1.

Despite the damage, the Mariners’ defense turned in one of its best plays of the night to end the inning. Right fielder Kelvin Alcantara fired a strike home after Sandy Luciano doubled, cutting down Manuel German at the plate on a relay from first baseman Martin Gonzalez to catcher Sebastian De Andrade to keep the deficit at four.

Lin (0-2) was charged with the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits while striking out five over 4 2/3 innings.

The Mariners threatened several times but couldn’t deliver the timely hit.

Martin Gonzalez doubled in the second inning before being stranded, while Dalton Davis reached via hit-by-pitch in the fifth and advanced to third after Alcantara reached on an error by Royals third baseman Pedro Roque. The opportunity ended when Brayden Corn struck out swinging.

Seattle mounted another chance in the sixth after Sebastian De Andrade walked and Joshua Francis singled with one out, but Royals relievers escaped the jam before Yorger Bautista’s two-out single resulted in De Andrade being thrown out at home by left fielder Noah Barber.

Overall, the Mariners finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base, preventing them from mounting a comeback.

The Royals added their final run in the sixth when two wild pitches by reliever Alan Carpinteiro allowed Daniel Lopez to score after he walked, stole second and advanced to third on the first wild pitch.

Offensively, Dalton Davis led the Mariners with two hits and the club’s lone RBI. Joshua Francis added a pair of singles, while Martin Gonzalez doubled and Nick Becker swiped his 24th stolen base of the season.

The bullpen closed the game on a positive note. Maximio Rodriguez struck out the only batter he faced before Michael Hobbs tossed a scoreless seventh inning with one strikeout.

The Mariners will look to regain sole possession of first place Thursday when they travel to Tempe Diablo Stadium to take on the ACL Angels.