Mariners Surge Past Cardinals to Secure Third Straight Win

SEATTLE (AP) — Josh Naylor hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning to help the Seattle Mariners secure a 4-2 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Naylor, who homered in his previous two games, turned on a hanging curveball from Cardinals reliever Gordon Graceffo to drive in two runs after Julio Rodríguez had put Seattle on the board with an RBI single.

Following his double, Naylor stole third base, allowing him to score easily on a sacrifice fly from Jorge Polanco. The Mariners scored four runs in the sixth to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

The Cardinals initially took the lead with a two-run homer from Alec Burleson in the fourth inning. However, that was the extent of their offense against Mariners starter Bryan Woo.

Woo, who tied a career-high with nine strikeouts, limited the Cardinals to two runs on three hits over six innings, walking no batters. He improved to 13-7 on the season. Andrés Muñoz secured his 33rd save.

Leo Rivas led off the sixth inning with a nine-pitch walk off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas. Randy Arozarena followed with a single and Cal Raleigh walked on four pitches, setting the stage for Rodríguez and Naylor’s big hits.

With the victory, the Mariners improved their home record to 17-6 since the All-Star break, which is the best in the MLB for the second half of the season.

The Cardinals will send left-hander Matthew Liberatore to the mound Tuesday night against Mariners right-hander George Kirby in the second game of the three-game series.