SEATTLE — Tim Beckham hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Omar Narvaez also homered for the Mariners, who overcame early and late bullpen troubles and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Cardinals lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Beckham hit the third pinch-hit homer of his career and 13th home run of the season off Giovanny Gallegos (1-1) to break a 4-all tie. It was the second pinch-hit home run of the season for the Mariners.
Dee Gordon’s two-out RBI single in the second scored Austin Nola and gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty seemed to pull it together midway through the third when we struck out two batters with two on to get out of the inning. He then retired the side in the fourth with two strikeouts and a ground out back to the pitcher.
But, he opened the fifth inning with four straight balls to Daniel Vogelbach, then gave up a first-pitch homer to Omar Narvaez, making it 4-2.
Yairo Munoz, in the lineup for the injured Matt Carpenter, tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh with a two-out, two-run homer. Mariners reliever Austin Adams (1-0) entered and struck out the four batters he faced to set up Beckham. Roenis Elias pitched the ninth for his 11th save.
Jose Martinez had two solo home runs, off opener Matt Carasiti in the first inning and reliever Wade LeBlanc in the sixth.
Haniger shut down
Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger was sent home early from the team’s recent road trip and was scheduled to see the doctor Tuesday. The former All-Star is recovering from testicle surgery and pushed it too hard as he began to ramp up his rehabilitation, manager Scott Servais said. There was no specific injury while in Milwaukee and Houston, he said, it just “didn’t feel all that great.”
