Sunday’s Game Report: Mariners 3, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
For the second day in a row, a late home run from Nathan Church gave the Cardinals a lead on Sunday – and for the second day in a row, the bullpen could not protect it.
The Mariners tied the game with a run off Matt Svanson in the seventh inning and won the game on a pinch-hit home run by Rob Refsnyder off JoJo Romero in the ninth.
The Cardinals were swept in the three-game series at Busch Stadium and have now lost four games in a row.
The homer from Church, his third in the last two games, came in the sixth inning and put the Cardinals ahead 2-1.
Many of the Cardinals’ top relievers were unavailable after they blew through all but one of their relievers on Saturday, when the Mariners scored four runs in the last two innings to win that game.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The first run for the Cardinals came on JJ Wetherholt’s homer in the third, his fifth of the season … Church’s homer, also his fifth of the year, was their only hit after the third inning … Alec Burleson was hitless in 12 at-bats in the series and is just 2-of-25 over his last six games … The Cardinals were 0-of-5 with a runner in scoring position … Jordan Walker had an infield single and walked twice but in his last 10 games since his last home run, on April 13, he has eight hits in 39 at-bats, a .205 average … Ramon Urias was hit by a pitch in the fourth. The Cardinals have been hit by 23 pitches this season, the most in the majors, and have had at least one batter hit by a pitch in eight of their last 10 games.
On the mound: The only run allowed by Michael McGreevy over his six innings was a home run by Cal Raleigh in the fourth. McGreevy scattered five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six … Svanson retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh but then gave up a double in front of an RBI single by Cole Young, which came on an 0-2 pitch … Ryne Stanek struck out the side in the eighth to keep the game tied but Refsnyder’s homer off Romero with one out in the ninth gave the Mariners the win. It was the second homer Romero has allowed this season, matching his total for all of 2025.
Key stat: Wetherholt is the first leadoff hitter to hit five homers for the Cardinals in the first 27 games of the season since Ray Lankford hit seven in 1994. Lars Nootbaar hit his fifth homer out of the leadoff spot last year in the 30th game of the season.
Worth noting: The Cardinals have lost their last seven games to the Mariners dating back to 2024 … The two teams combined to challenge nine ball-strike calls by home plate umpire John Bacon and the first eight were overturned. The only call that was confirmed came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth … Matt Pushard worked a scoreless inning for Memphis on Sunday and is nearing the end of his rehab assignment.
Up next: In their 28th game of the season on Monday night, the Cardinals finally will play their first game against a division rival in the opener of a four-game series in Pittsburgh. It’s the farthest into a season before their first game in the division for the Cardinals since 1993. Dustin May will get the start.
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