Pinch hitter Rob Refsnyder homered with one out in the ninth inning to break a tie as the Seattle Mariners defeated the host St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Cal Raleigh also homered for the Mariners, who swept the three-game interleague series.
JJ Wetherholt and Nathan Church went deep for the Cardinals, who have lost four in a row.
Refsnyder deposited a 3-2 sweeper from Cardinals reliever JoJo Romero (0-1) into the Mariners’ bullpen in left field.
Seattle reliever Eduard Bazardo (1-1) earned the victory and Jose A. Ferrer worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season.
Wetherholt homered leading off the bottom of the third, taking a 1-1 fastball from Mariners starter Emerson Hancock over the fence in right-center field, to break a scoreless tie. It was the fifth homer of the season for the rookie.
Raleigh answered with one out in the top of the fourth off St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy, crushing a 1-1 fastball off the back wall of the Cardinals’ bullpen in right field. It was the sixth homer of the season and the fourth in the past six games for
Raleigh, who led the majors with 60 last season – an MLB record for a catcher and a switch-hitter.
The Cardinals regained the lead in the sixth when Church hit a 1-1 changeup from Hancock out to right. It was the third homer in the past two games and the fifth of the season for Church.
The Mariners manufactured a run off St. Louis reliever Matt Svanson in the seventh to tie it at 2. With two outs, Connor Joe lined a double down the left-field line and scored on Cole Young’s single to right-center.
Hancock and McGreevy both made quality starts but neither factored into the decision.
Hancock allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
McGreevy also went six innings, and gave up one run on five hits, with no walks and a season-high six strikeouts.
Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor didn’t play because of quad tightness.
