Rivas delivers a walk-off home run in the 13th inning, leading the on-fire Mariners to a 4-2 victory against the Cardinals.
SEATTLE -- — Leo Rivas kicked off the bottom of the 13th inning with a two-run homer, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, marking their fifth straight win.
With this win, Seattle completed a three-game sweep and remains just one game behind Houston in the AL West standings. The Mariners are also 1 1/2 games ahead of Texas for the final American League wild card spot.
For the Cardinals, Thomas Saggese had a standout performance with four hits, including an RBI single that put them ahead 2-1 in the 11th inning. However, Jorge Polanco managed to tie the game with a run-scoring double at the start of the bottom half.
Rivas came in as a pinch runner for Polanco and made it to third base but was thrown out at home on a ground ball, wasting a great opportunity for Seattle to clinch the win.
In the 13th inning, Rivas hit a first-pitch slider from right-hander Ryan Fernandez (0-3) over the right-field fence, marking his second major league home run.
Automatic runner Josh Naylor also crossed the plate on Rivas' second career walk-off hit.
Emerson Hancock (4-5) pitched two flawless innings to earn the win.
Iván Herrera hit a home run in the first inning off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert, who struck out eight batters in 4 2/3 innings.
Seattle equalized in the second inning when Naylor scored the first of his three runs on a sacrifice fly from Dominic Canzone.
Key moment
The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead in the 10th inning, but poor baserunning by Herrera proved costly. With the automatic runner on second base, Herrera did not advance to third on a deep flyout to right field and was then doubled off second base on a routine fly to center, ending the inning.
Key stat
St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy allowed just one run and five hits over six innings.
Up next
After a day off, Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (6-13, 5.28 ERA) will start on Friday night in Milwaukee against RHP Quinn Priester (12-2, 3.25).
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.53 ERA) is set to face Angels RHP José Soriano (10-10, 4.07) in the first game of a four-game series on Thursday night.
