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(Sports Network) - John Bale hopes to continue Kansas City's brilliant starting pitching run of late, and the Royals attempt to complete a sweep of their brief two-game series with the Seattle Mariners this afternoon at Safeco Field.

Zack Greinke tossed Kansas City's second straight complete game on Monday, and Billy Butler and Miguel Olivo homered to lift the Royals to a 5-1 win.

Greinke (3-0) followed up Brian Bannister's gem from Sunday, as he allowed a run and five hits to win his third start of the young season. He also struck out four and walked a batter.

Butler has hit safely in all 13 games this season, matching Darrell Porter (1978) and Danny Tartabull (1989) for the second-longest streak in team history to open a campaign. George Brett holds the franchise mark by starting the 1983 season with a 19 game-run.

Jarrod Washburn (1-2) took the loss for Seattle after allowing three runs on six hits through six innings, striking out six and walking none. Ichiro Suzuki tallied two hits and the lone RBI in the Mariners' second straight defeat.

Seattle has not lost consecutive games to the Royals since the 2002 season.

Bale, meanwhile, will try and give the Royals three straight complete games for the first time since Floyd Bannister, Bret Saberhagen and Luis Aquino turned the trick from August 12-14, 1988.

The 33-year-old left-handed reliever turned starter is 0-2 in his two starts this season, though, while pitching to a 5.84 ERA. Bale, who before this season hadn't started a big league game since 2003, was tagged with the loss on Thursday against the New York Yankees after he gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Bale has not won a start since August 29, 2003 while with the Cincinnati Reds,

This will be Bale's first-ever start against the M's, but he did surrender two runs and three hits in a four-inning relief stint against them back in 2001, when he pitched for Baltimore.

Seattle will counter with right-handed veteran Miguel Batista, who is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA on the year. Batista, who earned a save in his first appearance of the season, was tagged with the loss Thursday against Tampa after he allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Like Bale, Batista will be making his first start against his opponent tonight. He is 0-1 lifetime in two relief stints against Kansas City but has not surrendered a run in 3 1/3 innings to the Royals.

Batista pitched the 2000 season in Kansas City and was 2-6 with a 7.74 ERA in 14 games for the Royals, nine of which were starts.

Seattle won six of nine matchups from the Royals a year ago and is 18-9 in the series since the start of the 2005 season, including wins in eight of the 11 matchups at home in that time.

As part of Jackie Robinson Day, commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Hall of Fame second baseman breaking the color barrier and entering the league, Kansas City's Jose Guillen and Joey Gathright will wear his No. 42 that was retired throughout Major League Baseball on April 15, 1997, as will manager Trey Hillman and coach Luis Silverio. Batista, Adrian Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt and Mike Morse will do the same for the Mariners.