SEATTLE (AP) -- This was a fitting way for the Kansas City Royals to end an empty road trip.

John Olerud hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Seattle Mariners handed the Kansas City Royals their ninth straight loss, 8-5 Sunday.

"Today went like the rest of this road trip," said reliever Ricky Bottalico (2-1), who allowed the game-winning homer.

The Royals were swept in New York, Minnesota and Seattle, after leaving Kansas City with a four-game winning streak. Three of those wins came on walk-off homers like Olerud's.

After Jermaine Dye tied the game in the top of the ninth with his league-leading eighth homer off Arthur Rhodes (1-1), the Mariners rallied against Bottalico.

Stan Javier and Alex Rodriguez walked to lead off the inning, bringing up Olerud, who hit his second homer of the season.

"When I hit it, I knew I hit it good," Olerud said.

Bottalico felt that he had Olerud struck out one pitch earlier, but umpire Jerry Meals called it a ball, allowing Olerud a chance to see another pitch.

"I thought it was a good pitch, a really good pitch for strike three," Bottalico said. "Every bad pitch I've made this year, bam, home run."

Rodriguez walked all five times he batted, tying a team record. The Mariners opened their homestand with a sweep. Cleveland comes to town Monday for a three-game series.

"It's a good way to get started," Dan Wilson said. "We caught a team (Kansas City) that was coming in cold. We got some key hits when we needed them, especially the big one from John."

Olerud went 2-for-4 with a double, the game-winning homer and four RBI. He has reached base safely in every game. His average is now at .404 and has reached base in 21 of his last 30 plate appearances.

"I really feel like I'm hitting the ball well this year," Olerud said.

Dye, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, has four homers in five games.

Kansas City did not lead at the end of an inning in any game during the road trip, a stretch of 81 innings. The Royals took the lead in the top of an inning seven times during that stretch but allowed the opponent to rally to tie or take a lead every time in the bottom of the frame.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first Sunday on Dye's RBI single, before giving it back on Olerud's RBI double in the bottom half.

Seattle took the lead in the fourth on David Bell's two-run double off Jeff Suppan. Martinez's homer in the fifth, a 421-foot shot into the second deck of left-center field, made it 5-1.

"He was trying to be too fine all day," Royals manager Tony Muser said of Suppan. "He usually has good control, and he's aggressive. Today he let his aggressiveness go away while trying to be too fine. It cost him."

Martinez, who missed Saturday's game with a tight left quadriceps, is 10-for-18 in his career against Suppan.

The Royals scored three runs in the seventh inning. Dye hit an RBI double off Jose Mesa and Mike Sweeney hit a two-run double.

Suppan allowed five hits and five runs and walked seven over 4 1/3 innings.

Game notes
A bone scan revealed that Mariners' RHP Freddy Garcia has a small hairline fracture in his right tibia and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. ... The Mariners started the season 7-2 at home for the first time ever. ... Martinez has 801 career RBI. He joins Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners to reach that mark. ... Rodriguez leads the AL with 18 walks. ... The Royals have had one other 0-9 road trip in team history, June 27-July 6, 1986. ... In eight appearances against Seattle, Suppan is 0-3 with 8.74 ERA. ... Going back to 1999, the Royals have lost 14 of 16 on the road (2-11 in 2000).