SEATTLE -- Leo Rivas, of all people, was the Mariners’ vessel to victory on Wednesday night.
The journeyman infielder, who has seized just about each of his limited opportunities at the big league level, belted a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift Seattle to a 4-2 win over the Cardinals, after entering the game as a pinch-runner an inning prior.
With the win, Seattle completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis and has now won five straight, marking the fourth time this season in which it has won that many in a row.
The club needed it, too, as both the teams that it was scoreboard-watching -- Houston and Texas -- were also victorious. The Mariners remained one game behind the Astros for first place in the American League West and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Rangers for the final AL Wild Card spot.
“What a game,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So many -- I'm not even going to try -- there were just so many individual performances that were unbelievable tonight.”
Seattle has now won 16 of its past 19 games at T-Mobile Park since the Trade Deadline -- MLB’s best home record in that span.
Here are three keys to Wednesday’s topsy-turvy win:
1) Rivas’ walk-off
Given that the Mariners had attempted a sacrifice bunt in the 10th and 12th, Rivas had fully expected that to be his assignment. So, too, did Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, who was halfway between his bag and the plate in on the grass at the time that Rivas connected on a hanging, first-pitch slider.
It wasn’t until Rivas -- who took over at designated hitter -- stepped into the batter’s box that he received the signal to swing away.
“I was practicing bunting in the cage, while they were on defense,” Rivas said. “I was trying my bunting. … And then they told me, 'Hey, you've got to swing. Just move him over.'”
Rivas hadn’t homered in the Majors until last Monday in Tampa, the one bright spot in a deflating loss, which made Wednesday’s that much more rewarding for the 27-year-old, who spent nine seasons in the Minors before finally making his debut last season.
This wasn’t his first foray into walk-off territory, though, as he was also responsible for a game-winning knock in Wilson’s very first win as manager on Aug. 23, 2024.
2) The bullpen’s big effort
Seattle’s collective MVP was its relief corps, which covered 8 1/3 innings and surrendered just three hits, one walk and one unearned run (via an automatic runner).
And remarkably, they did so via their unheralded, low-leverage arms, as their power guys (Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash and Eduard Bazardo) had all pitched in each of the first two games.
- José Castillo, whom they claimed off waivers from the Mets last Wednesday, pitched the ninth.
- Luke Jackson, who signed a Minors deal on Aug. 21 and was selected from Triple-A Tacoma when rosters expanded on Sept. 1, pitched the 10th and 11th.
- Emerson Hancock, a starter his entire life before transitioning to a relief role on Aug. 20 at Tacoma, pitched the 12th and 13th. He earned the win, too, while making just his fourth MLB relief appearance and first at T-Mobile Park.
“It's different, for sure, but it's just such an adrenaline rush,” Hancock said, “of just getting hot, get in the game, and just do your job and just throw strikes and execute pitches the best that you can. You're doing the same things, it's just kind of a different process to get there.”
The Mariners’ bullpen also covered five innings on Tuesday after George Kirby’s abbreviated outing, and for the series, finished with a 0.00 ERA in 16 1/3 innings, with just five hits and one walk to go with 18 strikeouts.
3) Glovely plays all over
Hancock made two athletic plays that kept the Mariners within striking distance, as part of a team-wide defensive effort -- maybe the Mariners’ most complete game of the year in the field, with zero errors among the 39 outs covered.
“There's so much that you almost forget in some of these games,” Wilson said. “But the defense was unbelievable tonight.”
Seattle also capitalized on two baserunning blunders in the 10th from Iván Herrera, who could’ve tagged up on a slicing flyout that Victor Robles was able to track down in deep right field, and who was then doubled-up at second base on a flyout to Julio Rodríguez.
Within the infield, J.P. Crawford and Eugenio Suárez made multiple diving stops -- and Josh Naylor, who sparked Seattle’s first two wins of the series at the plate, was part of 13 putouts at first base, including a few impressive picks that showcased his unheralded athleticism.