ST. LOUIS -- Leo Rivas didn’t try to do too much. He didn’t need to.
With the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Rivas stayed through the middle and delivered a go-ahead two-run single that capped a Mariners comeback, lifting Seattle to an 11-9 win over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
They trailed twice. They never flinched.
Seattle fell behind by three runs in the third inning and again by two in the seventh. Neither deficit changed the approach.
“We don’t panic,” manager Dan Wilson said. “We just continue to put together good at-bats and try to crawl our way back in the game.”
That showed up everywhere, not just in the big swings.
The Mariners applied pressure in ways that don’t always show up in the headline. They stole four bases, worked timely walks/at bats, dropped down a bunt in the ninth and consistently passed innings along instead of trying to win them in one swing.
“It’s kind of a pass-the-baton mentality,” Julio Rodríguez said. “Just do your job and pass it to the next guy.”
That identity turned the game.
Connor Joe tied it in the eighth with a two-run single as the last man off the bench. An inning later, after J.P. Crawford’s bunt single helped spark another rally, Rivas delivered the final punch -- a simple swing in a moment that didn’t call for anything more.
“I was just trying to be simple,” Rivas said. “Put the ball in play.”
The dugout’s reaction reflected more than just the hit.
“That’s what this team is all about,” Wilson said. “They love each other, and to see him come through there, everybody felt that.”
It was a full-team effort in every sense.
Seattle got contributions from its bench, its basepaths and its lineup top to bottom. Even early power -- including Julio Rodríguez’s 402-foot homer and Will Wilson’s first career blast -- was just part of a broader offensive mix that leaned more on pressure than pure slug.
“We can beat you a lot of different ways,” Rodríguez said.
They had to.
Bryan Woo endured his shortest outing since his MLB debut, allowing four home runs in three innings -- the first time he didn’t reach the fourth inning in a start since 2023. But instead of unraveling, the Mariners adjusted.
The bullpen bridged the game, including two massive scoreless innings from Jose Ferrer and a clean frame via Matt Brash.
“I sucked today,” Woo said. “But the offense picked me up. That’s baseball.”
And when it mattered most, they finished it.
Andrés Muñoz closed out the ninth with a strikeout and a game-ending double play, sealing not just a win -- but Seattle’s first road series victory of the season, a milestone that matched the way it was earned.
Not clean. Not easy. Just relentless.
“That’s who we are,” Rodríguez said. “We’re never out of the game.”