Mariners and Josh Naylor sneak past Cardinals, 3-2

Q: What was the final score of the Mariners vs. Cardinals game on April 24, 2026?

The Seattle Mariners won the game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a final score of 3-2.

Q: Who hit the game-winning home run for the Mariners against the Cardinals?

Josh Naylor hit the game-winning solo home run for the Mariners.

Q: What were the key plays that led to the Mariners' victory over the Cardinals?

The Mariners utilized small-ball tactics and key hits, including a two-out RBI single from Cole Young and a solo homer from Josh Naylor.

Q: How did the Mariners' pitching perform in the game against the Cardinals?

The Mariners' pitching was strong, with Kirby and the bullpen combining for effective innings to secure the win.

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - APRIL 24: Josh Naylor #12 of the Seattle Mariners slides safely into home plate for a run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning at Busch Stadium on April 24, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images) | Getty Images Mariners fans are still waiting for this offense to break through in the way we know they’re capable of, but in the meantime, please enjoy this Classic Mariners One-Run Win, featuring: a strong-n-long outing from a starter! A shutdown performance from the bullpen! And everyone’s favorite, Just Enough Offense! The Mariners got on the board first with some small ball: Randy Arozarena led off the second inning with a double, moved to third on a Luke Raley flyout, and scored on a nice two-out RBI single from Cole Young, Young pouncing on a first-pitch fastball and sending it back where it came from. This was especially good because Cardinals starter Andre Pallante was hard for the Mariners hitters to solve; he racked of up five of his six strikeouts in the first five innings on the slider, which the Mariners hitters just could not seem to pick up. So this is a good plan here by Young to ambush the first-pitch fastball and not let Pallante get to his slider. Someone is putting himself in line for a postgame trip to Dave and Buster’s. The Mariners were able to small-ball around another run in the fourth, thanks to what we’ll call a leadoff Josh Naylor double (walk, stolen base), but Arozarena and Raley then struck out back-to-back on the slider, natch. With two outs, though, came through this time, punching a sinker through the hole in the left side of the infield to score a hustling Naylor. That slide would be a dream for foley artists to score, but who cares, it worked. However, all that careful small-balling was undone in the fourth. After looking deadly sharp for 3.1 innings, seemingly lost the handle in an at-bat against Alex Burleson, walking him on five pitches – the fifth being one could have challenged, and in retrospect, probably should have, because Kirby suffered some poor luck after. hit into what could have been an inning-ending double play but was able to leg it out as the play developed slowly, and then turned on an inside sinker and pulled it into right field for a ground-rule double. It looked like the Mariners might have lucked into not allowing a run to score, pinning Walker at third thanks to the ball bouncing into the crowd, but in a 1-2 count reached into the opposite batter’s box to parachute a slider into right field for a game-tying single. Frustrating! The Mariners weren’t able to answer back in their half-inning despite Cal Raleigh walking and taking second on a wild pitch, but Kirby did his job to hang another zero with a quick inning in the bottom of the fifth despite giving up another annoying parachute single. Josh Naylor then helped out in the sixth with a solo homer, clobbering a fastball at the bottom of the zone for his third homer of the season – a 418-foot blast that looked softer than it was actually hit, at 107.3 mph off the bat. This would wind up being the difference in the game, and it’s great to see Naylor’s bat continue to heat up as he wreaks havoc in all facets of the game: After striking out Arozarena on that dang slider again, Pallante’s day was done, as the Cardinals went to the bullpen to get lefty to contend with Seattle’s raft of lefties – meaning Luke Raley’s day was also done. kept things going with a seven-pitch walk, and Canzone – who won the right to stick around against a lefty – followed that with a walk of his own. Sadly, Cole Young killed all those good vibes by grounding into a double play, knocking his contributions back to net zero for the game. He’s gonna have to work harder if he wants to earn that trip to Dave and Buster’s postgame. Kirby came back out for the seventh with his pitch count still in the 70s, but Winn ambushed a first-pitch sinker for a ground ball base hit. Not messing around, Dan Wilson mashed the button and then Matt Brash mashed José Fermin into a fine paste. After and combined to hurl a scoreless eighth, Andrés Muñoz came on for the close and again showed a solid return to form, allowing one stupid little ground ball base hit on a slider but also netting two strikeouts, including the game-ender. Fun! We would love to see some more offense, of course, but this felt like a Vintage Mariners Win, like a favorite book you’ve read before but will happily read again. Sometimes it’s nice to play the hits.