KANSAS CITY -- Ty France finally looks as locked in as ever in a season where he’s long been looking for his swing, and the Mariners couldn’t have used it at a better time than when his fourth hit of the night lifted the club to a 10-8 victory in the 10th inning on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

France ripped the go-ahead single on a first-pitch sweeper from Royals reliever Tucker Davidson, who’d just struck out Eugenio Suárez to put a bases-loaded opportunity in peril. The up-the-middle knock was textbook of Seattle’s first baseman when at his best -- hunting the precise pitch he connected with, staying on time and landing it just out of the defender’s reach.

“It's just kind of the group we are,” France said. “We kind of just have to play scrappy baseball.”

That moment salvaged a night where the Mariners blew a 7-0 lead after crushing four homers in the fourth inning alone, only to watch the last-place Royals spoil what was shaping up to be a runaway win with a late rally for the second straight night.

And again, a bullpen that’s been among MLB’s best was at the center of the late-innings drama.

Andrés Muñoz surrendered three unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game while struggling to find the plate and serving as a victim of a few costly defensive miscues behind him.

Josh Rojas’ throwing error allowed leadoff man Nelson Velázquez to reach, then Muñoz walked Samad Taylor and Bobby Witt Jr. to set up Salvador Perez for a game-tying RBI knock that sent the game to extras. In between, Rojas couldn’t convert a double play that extended the rally.

But in the end, the Mariners avoided what would’ve tied a season-long losing streak at four games.

“They've bailed us out all year, so tonight was big,” France said of the bullpen. “I think more times than not, they're going to pick us up, so we really needed to do that for them.”

Muñoz, who hadn’t pitched since Sunday’s balk-impacted outing that led to a loss, threw a season-high 42 pitches and experienced a 1.4 mph velocity downtick on his fastball, which limited him to just three swings and misses and led to seven balls in play from the nine batters he faced.

Muñoz was summoned for a five-out save attempt after Justin Topa surrendered consecutive singles in the eighth. And after Matt Brash’s two-run ninth inning in Monday’s walk-off loss, Seattle’s two highest-leverage relievers tasked with filling the role vacated by Paul Sewald have blown saves in consecutive games.

“I think the biggest thing that we're learning, and they're learning as you go through these things, is emotions run high. ... We haven't been able to finish hitters off,” manager Scott Servais said. “Getting good chases out of the zone and whatnot, we've struggled with that, and that's about execution.”

Tuesday’s game was saved by an offense that continues to exhibit the late-innings magic they’d been seeking and also generated production early.

Beyond France, Teoscar Hernández finished with a career-high-tying five hits -- also a season high for the Mariners -- and all of his contact was loud. He crushed an 111.5 mph opposite-field homer in the fourth, a 106.3 mph double in the seventh, a 98.8 mph single in the fifth and a 99 mph single in the second.

“I've been thinking about it because I've been swinging and missing a lot,” Hernández said. “Early in the season, I had a lot of strikeouts, and I think for me it's time to cut that down and just try to put the ball more in play.”

Tuesday marked just the third time in franchise history that the Mariners hit four homers in one inning, the others being May 2, 2002, against the White Sox (the Mike Cameron and Bret Boone game) and Sept. 21, 1996, against Oakland.

France has now homered thrice in his past 10 games, which followed a 34-game streak without leaving the yard. But he’s looked much more like himself over the past few weeks, with a slash line of .339/.427/.559 (.986 OPS) over 17 games dating back to July 28.

Suárez has now homered three times this month after hitting that many over his previous 20 games. In this stretch, he’s regained the team RBI lead with 76.

And Rojas, who began his Mariners tenure 0-for-14, made his trident debut to cap the rally, one night after he ripped a game-tying hit with two outs in the ninth.