Leo Rivas led off the bottom of the 13th inning with a two-run homer and the Seattle Mariners outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive victory.
Seattle completed a three-game sweep and remained one game behind Houston atop the AL West. The Mariners lead Texas by 1 1/2 games for the final American League wild card.
Thomas Saggese had four hits for the Cardinals, including an RBI single that gave them a 2-1 advantage in the 11th, but Jorge Polanco tied it with a run-scoring double leading off the bottom half.
Rivas entered as a pinch runner for Polanco and advanced to third base before getting thrown out at the plate on a grounder as Seattle squandered an excellent chance to win.
But in the 13th, Rivas turned on a first-pitch slider from right-hander Ryan Fernandez (0-3) and sent it over the right-field fence for his second major league home run.
Automatic runner Josh Naylor also scored on Rivas’ second career walk-off hit.
Emerson Hancock (4-5) tossed two perfect innings for the win.
Iván Herrera homered in the first off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert, who struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings.
Seattle tied it 1-all in the second when Naylor scored the first of his three runs on Dominic Canzone’s sacrifice fly.
Up next
Following a day off, Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (6-13, 5.28 ERA) starts Friday night in Milwaukee against RHP Quinn Priester (12-2, 3.25).
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.53 ERA) faces Angels RHP José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night.
First pitch for Friday’s game at American Family Field in Milwaukee is set for 7:10 with pregame coverage by Ameren Total Access beginning at 6:15. Friday’s game can be heard on KTLO AM 1240.
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