Mark Grudzielanek went 4-for-5 and played a key role in a seven-run sixth inning that carried the Kansas City Royals past the Baltimore Orioles 10-7 on Thursday night.

The Royals overcame a four-run deficit and two homers by Aubrey Huff to earn a split of the four-game series. Kansas City took an early 3-0 lead, then yielded seven straight runs before sending 11 players to the plate in their most prolific inning of the season.

Jose Guillen led off the sixth with a walk and Billy Butler doubled before Miguel Olivo struck out. Kevin Millar then botched a grounder to first as Guillen scored. Adam Loewen (0-2) replaced starter Garrett Olson and gave up an RBI single to Ross Gload before Tony Pena got an infield hit to load the bases.

David DeJesus singled in a run, matching his career-high hitting streak of 15 games, and Grudzielanek greeted Chad Braford with a run-scoring single to tie it. Alex Gordon followed with a sacrifice fly and Guillen capped the uprising with a two-run single.

The last time the Royals scored more than six runs in an inning was June 14, 2007 _ an eight-run second against St. Louis.

Joel Peralta (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings and Joakim Soria worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.

Butler and Pena hit solo homers for the Royals, who had lost nine of their last 10 at Camden Yards.

Huff hit a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run drive in the fifth, both off Kyle Davies. He has three homers in his last two games and 17 for the season, two more than in 2007. Huff also doubled in a 3-for-4 night.

Down 3-0, Baltimore batted around in a five-run fourth that included Huff's first home run and successive triples by Adam Jones and light-hitting Brandon Fahey. After Huff homered, Ramon Hernandez singled and scored on a two-out single by Melvin Mora. Millar walked and Jones drove in two runs before Fahey hit a liner off the scoreboard in right.

The Orioles made it 7-3 in the fifth when Huff homered after a single by Nick Markakis. But Baltimore got only one more hit the rest of the way.

Butler made it 1-0 in the second with his second homer in 196 at-bats this season. Pena led off the third with his first home run, the fourth of his three-year major league career, and Guillen added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.

Notes:@ Royals OF Joey Gathright was rested with a sore left shoulder. ... Guillen has 14 multihit games in his last 26 starts. ... Dropped to seventh in the batting order, Millar went 0-for-3 with a walk and is 5-for-33 (.152) in his last nine games. ... Grudzielanek was 0-for-5 with the bases loaded before his single in the sixth. ... The last time the Orioles hit successive triples was August 2000. ... The Orioles went over 1 million in attendance.