SEATTLE — Adam Lind provided the clutch hit that escaped the Seattle Mariners during their six-game losing streak.
It came in game-winning fashion.
Lind hit a winning three-run home run in the ninth inning off St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal to give the Mariners a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night.
The long ball snapped Seattle’s skid and provided a brief respite from an otherwise miserable stretch. Seattle was on the verge of losing for the fifth time in seven games after holding the lead before Lind’s 11th homer that landed deep in the right-field seats.
“We’ve had a lot of tough ones lately, but we did pull it out,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
The Mariners opened the ninth with a double by Kyle Seager just fair down the left-field line and a walk to Dae-Ho Lee on a 3-2 pitch. Lind reached down and drove a 1-1 pitch out to right field for his fourth career walk-off home run.
Lind had been hitless in his previous 10 at-bats before the homer.
“You know it’s a long season, long road trip,” Lind said. “We played some good teams, the Cardinals are a really good team as well. If you want to be good you have to play well against these teams.”
It was the third home run allowed this season by Rosenthal (2-3) and his third blown save. Rosenthal has struggled of late, giving up at least two runs in three of his past five appearances.
“It was a changeup, it was probably more on the inner-part of the plate than we had hoped,” Rosenthal said. “I don’t remember the last time I’ve given up a hard-hit ball on my changeup. It was under the zone, but he just did a great job with it.”
St. Louis had scored three times in the eighth inning without the help of a base hit. Seattle reliever Joaquin Benoit issued three walks and a hit batter, and Seager’s error on Matt Holliday’s hard ground ball allowed two runs to score.
Benoit’s problems nearly ruined the night for Seattle starter Wade LeBlanc. Making his first start in the majors since 2014, LeBlanc threw six shutout innings, scattering three hits and striking out three after being acquired in a trade with Toronto earlier this week.
LeBlanc left with a 1-0 lead after Lee’s bases loaded groundout in the sixth scored Seth Smith from third. Nick Vincent pitched a perfect seventh but it fell apart for Seattle in the eighth.
“Throwing strikes, changing speeds, that’s pretty much all I’ve got,” LeBlanc said.
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Benoit immediately put runners on first and second walking Yadier Molina — who was replaced by Eric Fryer — and hitting Greg Garcia on a 1-2 pitch. The pair advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Pham and Matt Carpenter was intentionally walked to load the bases. Aledmys Diaz fouled off a pair of 3-2 pitches before Benoit missed inside and forced in the tying run.
Benoit was replaced by Donn Roach and Holliday swung at the first pitch. Seager appeared to think the grounder was going to bounce higher, but it stayed down and rolled into left field allowing a pair to score.
Roach (1-0) escaped the eighth and pitched the ninth to get his first win.
“We were able to make something happen there in the eighth, it’s just a shame we couldn’t finish it off,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.
ROSTER MOVES
The Mariners optioned starting outfielder Nori Aoki and relief pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen to Triple-A Tacoma to clear space for pitching reinforcements.
The Mariners made seven roster moves before starting the homestand against St. Louis. The Mariners also placed right-hander Adrian Sampson on the 15-day disabled list and brought up left-handers Wade LeBlanc and David Rollins and right-hander Donn Roach from Tacoma. Seattle also transferred right-hander Tony Zych to the 60-day DL.
Aoki had started 67 games this season but was hitting just .245. He was demoted from the leadoff spot in the batting order recently and Servais said he wanted Aoki to work on hitting against left-handers while in the minors. Aoki is hitting .177 against lefties this season.
Despite being a veteran, Aoki has not accrued enough service time in the majors to decline the minor league option. Because of that, he was easier for Seattle to send down in an attempt to address pitching concerns.
“We didn’t have a lot of ways to go about this and fortunately he did have options left,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
Sampson was placed on the disabled list with a right flexor bundle strain a day after he left Seattle’s game in Detroit without throwing an official pitch. Sampson felt discomfort in his right elbow as he warmed up before the bottom of the first inning and was pulled.
Sampson getting pulled early strained Seattle’s bullpen and required the moves with Rollins and Roach to add arms. Rollins is making his second stint with Seattle this season, while Roach has been a starter in the minors with Tacoma but is being brought up as a reliever.
TRAINERS ROOM
Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams was a late scratch with lower back tightness. Jedd Gyorko replaced him in the lineup.
Mariners: LHP Wade Miley (shoulder) threw four perfect innings for Single-A Everett in a rehab assignment on Friday. Miley struck out seven of the 12 batters he faced. … RHP Felix Hernandez has increased his throwing program to 120 feet and is progressing from his strained calf. … RHP Taijuan Walker (foot) is scheduled to throw a bullpen this weekend and is on track to make a start next week.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Mike Leake (5-4) is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA over his past eight starts. Leake lost his only career start against Seattle in 2013.
Mariners: Nathan Karns (5-2) allowed five earned runs in five innings in his last start against Detroit. Karns’ last win came on May 30 against San Diego.
