Mariners sweep Cardinals with dramatic extra innings 4-2 win

Following their recent well-documented road woes, the Seattle Mariners now have the longest winning streak in the majors at five games.

Baseball is often called one of the ultimate team sports, with everyone having a part to play in winning over the course of the 162-game slog otherwise known as the regular season. Wednesday night offered one of the best examples of this, as the Mariners needed big contributions from some of their lesser-known players in order to secure a 4-2 win versus the Cardinals in extra innings.

Sure Cal Raleigh had a hit and three walks, Randy Arozarena had a couple of hits and Jorge Polanco produced a RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to tie the game at 2-2. However, the likes of Julio Rodríguez, J.P. Crawford and Cole Young struggled on the night, with Rodríguez in particular failing to come through in the 10th in a bases-loaded, one-out situation,

At the end of the day though, the main narrative from the series finale was about how the home sweep was secured by those not as used to seeing their names in the headlines. This included a bullpen which had to step up big-time, partly because Logan Gilbert was only able to go 4.2 innings.

Mariners bullpen impresses under the most difficult of circumstances

In fairness to Gilbert he did only give up one earned run while also striking out eight during his start, but after hitting Willson Contreras with his 95th pitch, M’s manager Dan Wilson decided to turn to his bullpen. And to say they answered the call would be a significant understatement, as they proved key in securing a taxing and hard-fought win as the Mariners played in their longest game of the season.

The bullpen has received plenty of criticism at times this season as a collective, but as we come to crunch time they’ve stepped up their game. And on Wednesday night specifically they combined to go 8.1 innings and allow just three hits, no walks and one unearned run, while striking out six.

Further, when you consider which relievers actually pitched on the night, their accomplishment becomes even more impressive. For example Jose Castillo, who was only claimed off waivers last week and Luke Jackson, who was only signed to a minor league contract three weeks ago.

There’s Carlos Vargas, who has had his struggles this year but has a 0.00 ERA in four appearances so far during September. In addition there’s Caleb Ferguson, who to be honest has been underwhelming since his trade from Pittsburgh, but did pitch a clean inning against the Cardinals in the series finale.

Gabe Speier had a quick 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts, although it’s nothing new for him to thrive in 2025. Finally we come to Emerson Hancock, who only recently converted from being a career starter, and has understandably taken some time to get warmed up.

Emerson Hancock beginning to grow into his new role

However, in his best outing yet from the bullpen, Hancock pitched the final 2.0 innings of the game and gave up nothing – not a run, not a hit, not a walk, nothing. In all, the Mariners bullpen pitched 16.1 innings during the Cardinals series and did not allow a single earned run.

Hancock spoke to the media following Wednesday’s game and his response was refreshing, in how it summed up the essence of it being all about the team as opposed to the individual. He said;

“I take it a day at a time. I’m really embracing it, I’m really enjoying it and I just want to do my part. I just try to do my job and do the best I can for our bullpen, but whatever role that is .. whatever they need me to do I want to do it, because I want to be a part of this team.”

The 26-year-old was asked about his mentality going into games as a reliever rather than as a starter, especially when dealing with the setup being slightly different during extra innings. He said:

“One pitch at a time. I just want to execute and understand the situation and what they’re trying to do, especially with a runner starting on second base. Then also lean on the defense and lean on Cal and have trust in them.”

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Leo Rivas getting plenty of love from his Mariners teammates

The other main unheralded player who came through on the night was Leo Rivas, who hit the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 13th to win the game. Prior to last week he’d never hit a major league homer before and now here he was doing it again, in the most stunning and desperately needed of situations.

It really is a feel-good story for a player who has spent most of his professional career in the minors and only made his Major League debut last year. Interestingly though, as Rivas was preparing for his crucial at-bat in the bottom of the 13th inning he didn’t figure to have such a dramatic impact.

This is because the 27-year-old assumed he would be asked to bunt, which it turns out the Cardinals assumed as well considering where Contreras positioned himself. However, the Mariners gave the okay for their pinch-hitter to swing away and the rest was history.

Rivas was asked postgame what the moment meant when he won the game, but as with Hancock he was also thinking about the team as a whole. He said:

“It means a lot. Not only me, but everybody has been through a lot. I just try and be present every day and every night, and I’m just happy.”

On the subject of the team being the most important thing, Rivas also talked about how welcome everyone has made him feel in Seattle. He said:

“It means a lot that they’ve been taking care of me since I got here, so it means a lot as a teammate that they make me feel like home when I’m here.”

Dan Wilson praises the team’s perseverance

An elated and relieved Wilson continued the theme of it being all about the team, when speaking with the media. He said:

“What an unbelievable effort, what a game. So many – I’m not even going to try – there were just so many individual performances that were unbelievable tonight. It all stacks up to a Mariner W and that’s the most important thing at this time of year. So many guys reaching down and giving a lot extra and then some.”

However, Wilson understandably couldn’t help but praise his relievers specifically. He said:

“The Bullpen was unreal. They had to cover a lot of innings of course, but only the one unearned run in eight-plus innings down there in that bullpen. An incredible job from one guy to the next … we handed the ball to a lot more guys in situations where they have not been before, some of them. It was just a phenomenal job on the mound tonight.”

With the win the Mariners improve to 78-68, remaining one game back of the Astros in the AL West and 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers for the third and final AL wild card spot. On Thursday they will send Bryce Miller to the mound, as they begin a four-game home series against their divisional rivals the Angels.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rodgers Photography

The Mariners obviously have to keep the momentum going during the Angels series, but how many do you predict they will take from the four-game set? More to the point, how many do you believe they can afford to drop as they continue their pursuit of a playoff spot and potentially the AL West? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.