4/26/26

(St. Louis, MO) Back on the road for the next six games, the Seattle Mariners began a series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. The M’s last trip to St. Louis was successful back in 2024 but the M’s began the series on an eight-game road losing streak after winning their first road game of the season back on April 3rd in Anaheim. Now Seattle would look to flush a 3-3 homestand and really build something with a couple winnable series away from T-Mobile Park.

Inconsistency has been the theme of 2026 for the St. Louis Cardinals as they have had great stretches of baseball and some flops against struggling teams. It has been more good than bad for the Red Birds but they have relied heavily on their offense which would be challenged against Seattle’s three best starters in George Kirby, Bryan Woo, and Emerson Hancock. It would be strength vs. strength and weakness vs. weakness as the series unfolded.

Mariners 3, Cardinals 2 (Game One, April 24th)

Both Seattle and St. Louis had Thursday off which mean both bullpens would be well rested for the opener. Both teams would also have starters on the mound in the opener capable of going deep into games as George Kirby got the road trip started for Seattle against fifth-year starter Andre Pallante for the Cardinals.

Seattle and St. Louis both got a baserunner without a hit in the 1st but neither left first base. Seattle recorded the first hit of the game in the top of the 2nd as former Cardinal, Randy Arozarena hit his seventh double of the season to begin the inning. He would move to third on a sacrifice fly by Luke Raley but remained their after Pallante struck out Dominic Canzone. With a runner on third and two outs, Cole Young came through to avoid wasting the opportunity with a single right back up the middle to get the Mariners on the board. The young second baseman continued his strong start to the season by giving Seattle a 1-0 lead.

George Kirby was dealing the first time through the order and coasted in the 2nd and 3rd. Josh Naylor worked a walk to begin the 4th and continued his perfect base stealing resume with the Mariners with his second steal of the season. Andre Pallante followed with back-to-back strikeouts of Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley to once again keep a runner in scoring position with two outs. Once again thought, Seattle would not squander the opportunity. This time, Dominic Canzone fell behind 0-2 and didn’t try to do too much and just slapped a grounder the other way for a knock. Naylor scored with ease and two, two-out runs had the Mariners feeling good, leading 2-0

The only hit allowed by George Kirby the first time through the order was a single by Nolan Gorman. He would get Kirby again in the 4th as St. Louis mounted some offense. Jordan Walker traded places with Alec Burleson on a fielder’s choice so there was a man on first with two away. Gorman again attacked early in the count and dropped one down the right field line that just landed fair. Seattle caught a break as the ball bounced into the stands, forcing Walker to stop at third on the ground-rule double. Masyn Winn would this time give St. Louis a two-out jolt as he flipped the bat out and parachuted a base hit into right field. Walker and Gorman both came into score and just like that the game was tied at 2-2.

Both teams stranded a baserunner in the 5th but in the 6th the tie was broken. Two days after earning Seattle a walk-off win, Josh Naylor would once again put Seattle out in front in the later stages of the game. Leading off the 6th, Naylor got a fastball down and in and dropped the barrel on it and blasted high and deep to right center. He got enough of hit to record his third home run of the season as it landed in the Cardinals pen. Seattle’s favorite Canadian circled the bases after giving the Mariners a 3-2 lead.

A double play wasted a couple of walks later that inning as St. Louis went to their bullpen. Kirby finished his day with a nice and easy 1-2-3 bottom of the 6th to put together another quality start. After some hiccups in an injury affected season, Kirby has showcased that he is back in top form early in 2026. His final line would be six innings of two run ball with five hits and one walk allowed while striking out two. Kirby wasn’t happy with his strikeout total and guaranteed double digits his next time out, but it was another quality start as he left with a 3-2 lead.

Matt Brash cleaned up the 7th after Kirby tried to start the inning but gave up a hit. After Brash, Gabe Speier got in hot water in the 8th, allowing back-to-back singles to JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera to start the inning. After striking out Alec Burleson, Speier gave way to Eduard Bazardo to try to strand the two runners. He only needed to face one batter to do so as Bazardo got Jordan Walker to hit into his first double play of the season to end the threat. It would be a Seattle 3-2 lead heading into the 9th.

The Cardinals bullpen was great and only allowed two baserunners in 3 2/3 innings. The one run lead had to be enough for Andrés Muñoz in the 9th. Hard contact wouldn’t hurt as Nolan Gorman’s line drive was caught by Randy Arozarena in left to start the inning. There would be no contact from Masyn Winn as Muñoz got him swinging for the second out. The game was extended on a single by Nathan Church, but only by one batter. Muñoz blew a 1-2 heater by Ramón Urías to end Seattle’s eight-game road losing skid. It was another close one but it was Seattle coming out on top with a 3-2 win to begin the series.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Cardinals

• Masyn Winn- 2-4, 2 RBI
• Nolan Gormon- 2-4, 2B, R
• Andre Pallante (L, 2-2)- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO

Mariners 11, Cardinals 9 (Game Two, April 25th)

Over the weekend, fans in the Pacific Northwest had to tune in a little bit earlier than usual as the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals played a couple of day games to wrap up their three-game series. In game two, Seattle would have their most reliable starter on the mound in Bryan Woo against St. Louis’ most experienced starter in Matthew Liberatore.

You could tell their was something in the air early as the ball was flying early. Three home runs would be hit out of Busch Stadium in just the 1st inning. Julio Rodríguez would clobber his second home run of the season into the upper deck in left field for a two-run short to give the Mariners an early 2-0 lead. St. Louis got those two back on just three pitches as JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera went back-to-back for both of their fourth home runs of the season to tie the game at 2-2 with still plenty of offense to come.

Mitch Garver of all people would beat out an infield single in the top of the 2nd to start the season. After Liberatore struck out Cole Young, a new face to Mariner fans came to the plate as Will Wilson made his team debut after being called up after Brendan Donovan’s injury. On his first swing, Wilson endeared himself to Mariner fans. Wilson got the barrel to a fastball at the top of the zone and hammered it out to left field for his first career home run. It was a special moment for the 27-year-old as Seattle took a 4-2 lead.

Bryan Woo retired Masyn Winn to start the bottom of the 2nd, but things would not get much better for the reliable starter. Nathan Church made him pay for a fastball in the middle of the plate and hammered it to right center for his third home run of the season to give the Cardinals some momentum right back. St. Louis would get a couple more singles in the inning, but this time Woo would get out of the inning with the M’s still leading 4-3.

Seattle left two on in the 3rd and then the Cardinals showed that they didn’t just need to hit home runs to score in this one. Two consecutive one-out singles by Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman put two on for Masyn Winn. He did exactly what he did in the opener and tied the game with a base hit to right as it was all even 4-4. It stayed tied for one batter as Nathan Church drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, but the big blow came next. Pedro Pagés would keep a line drive just fair as it wrapped around the foul pole in left for a two-run shot. A review confirmed the second home run of the season for Pagés as St. Louis chased Woo after just three innings with a 7-4 lead.

Six home runs had already been hit in just three innings of play and a seventh would come quickly after that. Leading off the 4th, Cole Young took a first pitch ball before falling behind 1-2. Seven consecutive foul balls led to the seventh home run of the game as Young sent his third home run of the season out to right field. The solo shot got Seattle a run closer, trailing 7-5.

Jose A. Ferrer would be the first man out of the bullpen and after letting the first two batters he faced on, the lefty worked out of trouble. Randy Arozarena drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Ferrer worked through another inning with the score 7-6. George Soriano was the second reliever used by St. Louis but Seattle found some success against him. Cole Young recorded another extra base hit with his third double of the season. The next batter was Dominic Canzone and he brought home Young with a single to center to tie the game at 7-7.

Cooper Criswell faced the minimum in the bottom of the 6th and the game turned into a three-inning sprint. Former Mariner Ryne Stanek hung up a zero in the 7th before Criswell had a bump in the road. With a man on first and one out, Nathan Church would put an exclamation point on the best game of his major league career. After homering and robbing Mitch Garver of a home run, Church would leave the yard again with a two-run shot to right center for his fourth of the year. The Cardinals fifth home run of the game has the Red Birds back in front 9-7.

Seattle got some pressure on one of the Cardinals better relievers in JoJo Romero in the 8th as Mitch Garver and Cole Young both singled to put two on with nobody out. Leo Rivas moved them up with a sacrifice bunt which brought in closer Riley O’Brien. Coming into this game, O’Brien had been dominant but pinch hitter Connor Joe rocked him early and he couldn’t recover. Joe singled to right to bring in both Garver and Young and all of a sudden it was even again at 9-9.

Matt Brash rolled through the 8th as the game remained tied into the 9th inning. Riley O’Brien stayed on the mound and that ended up being a miss for St. Louis. Seattle loaded the bases on a single by J.P. Crawford, walk by Mitch Garver, and hit by pitch for Cole Young. Seattle didn’t need a hit to take the lead but they got one anyway. Leo Rivas walked off the Cardinals with a home run last season and he hurt them again on Saturday. A liner sat down in right center to bring home two to give Seattle double digits with an 11-9 lead.

Andrés Muñoz had a second consecutive save opportunity but walked Nolan Gorman to begin his outing. He once again bounced back with a strikeout of Masyn Winn for the first out. Then came Nathan Church who had already dealt so much damage to the Mariners in this game. He would deal no more. Muñoz got Church to hit a grounder to Josh Naylor at first and that turned into a 3-6 double play to end it. 20 total runs and 33 total hits made this one an early “Game of the Year” contender with Seattle coming out on top for a gutsy 11-9 win.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Cardinals

• Nathan Church- 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, Robbed Home Run
• Pedro Pagés- 3-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Matthew Liberatore (ND)- 3.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Mariners 3, Cardinals 2 (Game Three, April 26th)

Seattle had lost eight consecutive games on the road as they began this road trip but would have an opportunity for a sweep to start the six-game trip as they wrapped up their series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. We would get an intriguing pitching matchups as two guys enjoying career years met on the mound with Emerson Hancock facing off against Michael McGreevy.

The ball wasn’t flying like it was on Saturday as McGreevy rolled through the 1st while Hancock had to pitch around a double by Iván Herrera to put up his own zero. It was a similar 2nd as McGreevy went 1-2-3 while two singles by the Cardinals were wasted when Hancock got the speedy Victor Scott II to hit into a double play. In the bottom of the 3rd, St. Louis would finally get on the board. JJ Wetherholt led off the inning and for the second day in a row he left the yard. Wetherholt’s fifth home run of the season went out to right center to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Hancock had to strand two more singles to keep the Cardinals from adding on but Seattle would finally get to McGreevy in the 4th. With the bases empty and one out, Cal Raleigh came to the plate and he continued his breakout of his early season slump as he used his long swing to hook a changeup on the outside corner out into the Cardinals bullpen. Raleigh’s sixth home run of the season tied the game up at 1-1.

Both starters had relatively comfortable innings into the 6th where Michael McGreevy gave up a couple of singles to Leo Rivas and Julio Rodríguez, but got out of it on a Randy Arozarena strikeout. Emerson Hancock struck out Masyn Winn to start the inning but ran into a pesky Nathan Church once again. Church jumped on a floating changeup and sent it 407-feet out to right for his fifth home run of the season and third of the series. St. Louis had retaken the lead at 2-1.

Matt Svanson was the first reliever in this game as both bullpens were thin on Sunday after a heavy workload the day prior. Svanson retired the first two he faced before Seattle rocked him a bit as Connor Joe doubled for the first time this season. That kept the inning alive for Cole Young and just like the rest of the series, Seattle didn’t waste the opportunity. Young dunked a base hit into right field which easily brought Joe home. As quick as the Cardinals had taken the lead, Seattle had evened it back up at 2-2.

Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo combined for a scoreless bottom of the 7th and 8th while Ryne Stanek struck out the side in the top of the 8th. For the second game in a row, the Mariners and Cardinals were tied going into the 9th. JoJo Romero was in for the top of the 9th and got Randy Arozarena to fly out before Dan Wilson went to his bench to bring Rob Refsnyder in to hit for Luke Raley. Refsnyder looked like he went down looking on just three pitches, but a challenge overturned strike three and kept Refsnyder alive. He battled and made that challenge really matter. Refsnyder hammered a sweeper that hung in the middle of the plate out to left center and it was caught by Mariners bullpen catcher Justin Novak for his second home run of the year. Seattle had taken a 9th inning lead again and were three outs away from a sweep.

With Andrés Muñoz unavailable after pitching the previous two games, Dan Wilson would turn to Jose A. Ferrer for the 9th. The lefty would look for his first save as a Mariner with no room for error. He would get Ramón Urías to fly out to left for the first out before Oli Marmol went to his bench and pinch hit Yohel Pozo. It didn’t work as he grounded out to third for the second out. JJ Wetherholt was the last chance and he had already hit two homers in the series and a third would tie it. He wouldn’t be able to do it against Ferrer as his pop fly was caught in foul territory by Leo Rivas to end it. The sweep was complete as the Mariners 9th inning magic was enough in the finale to down the Cardinals one more time, 3-2.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Cardinals

• Nathan Church- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• JJ Wetherholt- 1-5, HR, RBI, R
• Michael McGreevy (ND)- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

The road trip could not have started any better for the Seattle Mariners (14-15) as they completed their second sweep of the season. That moved Seattle to just 1 1/2 games back of the Athletics in the AL West after the A’s took two out of three from Texas while the Rangers are just one game back. Los Angeles falls behind Seattle after being swept by Kansas City at 3 1/2 games back. Houston is still at the bottom of the division, 4 1/2 games out after losing two of three to the New York Yankees.

Seattle will now conclude their road trip with three games at the Minnesota Twins beginning on Monday. Minnesota (12-16) was expected to be one of the worst teams in the sport in 2026 but got off to a surprising start at 11-7. However they have gone 1-9 in their last 10 games, being swept by Cincinnati and Tampa Bay between a series loss to the struggling New York Mets. Minnesota will be riding a five-game losing streak as the Mariners come to town and look to extend both the Twins losing streak and the Mariners four-game winning streak.

Minnesota will have their two top starters go in this series which will make things a bit more difficult for the Mariners. Joe Ryan will be a popular trade target and likely the top pitcher available at this year’s deadline despite some early struggles. Still, Ryan has managed 33 strikeouts to just 8 walks to start the year and will look to pad his strikeout numbers against a vulnerable Mariners lineup. The day after Ryan starts, Taj Bradley will take the hill in a premier pitching matchup opposite George Kirby. Bradley came over from Tampa Bay last season in the Griffin Jax trade and has been incredible since then. Bradley owns a 2.91 ERA in six starts and 34 innings. He too owns a nice strikeout-to-walk ratio at 37 strikeouts to 13 walks. Seattle will have to hope the bats stay hot against two very tough customers this week.

• Game 1, Monday 4:40pm- Luis Castillo (0-1, 5.10 ERA) vs. Connor Prielipp (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 4:40pm- Logan Gilbert (1-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.90 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 10:40am- George Kirby (4-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Taj Bradley (3-1, 2.91 ERA)

Mariners Minor League Update

This will be a new segment each week to update what is going on in the Seattle minor league system. We will continuously give scores for each team but will also highlight some of the key players that have had strong series.

Tacoma Rainiers (Won Series @ Oklahoma City Comets, L 5-4, L 9-7, W 3-1, W 10-5, W 3-2, W 8-6)

Hitter of the Series

Brennen Davis, OF- 10-25, 4 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Michael Rucker, RHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Won Series vs. Corpus Christi Hooks, W 3-2, L 7-1, W 3-0, W 4-0, W 5-2, W 4-3)

Hitter of the Series

Caleb Cali, 3B- 5-18, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Jimmy Kingsbury, RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 2 Wins

Everett AquaSox (Won Series vs. Spokane Indians, W 5-2, W 7-5, W 11-3, W 2-1, L 6-2, L 7-6)

Hitter of the Series

Felnin Celesten, SS- 8-17, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Christian Little, RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Split Series vs. Stockton Ports, W 7-5, L 7-2, L 11-2, W 3-2, W 10-5, L 3-1)

Hitter of the Series

Korbyn Dickerson, OF- 8-20, 2 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, 4 R, 7 BB, 3 SB

Pitcher of the Series

Jackson Steensma, SP- 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

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