Mariners sweep Cardinals after Rob Refsnyder hits go-ahead home run
ST. LOUIS - Given his vexing start with his new team, Rob Refsnyder was willing to try just about anything to turn things around.
Even salt.
Before the start of the Mariners' series against the Cardinals on Friday, Mariners bullpen catcher Justin Novak offered to perform a ritual in which he sprinkled salt on Refsnyder's shoulders and then brushed it off. In Japanese culture, Novak explained, salt is used to purify and protect.
Two days later, Refsnyder stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and delivered his biggest hit in his first month as a Mariner, launching a go-ahead home run into the visitors' bullpen - four pitches after winning his first Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge - to send Seattle to a 3-2 comeback victory Sunday afternoon and a series sweep at Busch Stadium.
The best part?
It was Novak who made a leaping catch to grab Refsnyder's home-run ball in the bullpen.
A little full circle," Refsnyder said.
A Tokyo native known as "Champ" around the club, Novak had as productive a weekend as you can ask for from a bullpen catcher. To wit:
Friday: Performs the salt ritual.
Saturday: Negotiations with a fan for the return of Will Wilson's first home-run ball, exchanging that keepsake for three baseballs, one of which was signed by all the Mariners relievers.
Sunday: Catches Refsnyder's home-run ball
"A lot of credit to Champ. Champ's the man," Refsnyder said.
Cal Raleigh hit his sixth homer of the season - and fourth in the past week - for the Mariners' first run in the fourth inning, and Emerson Hancock tossed his fourth quality start (in six outings) to open the season, helping the Mariners (14-15) inch closer to .500.
After a 1-8 start on the road, the Mariners completed their first road sweep of the season in St. Louis. They'll continue the six-day trip Monday in Minnesota.
"We've been playing good baseball," Raleigh said. "We've had some bad breaks, and we're just trying to stay in that good flowing state. … Just play good baseball, keep it going, don't get too high or too low. Just keep on the attack and trying to win series."
Facing Cardinals lefty JoJo Romero in the ninth, Refsnyder fell behind 0-2 in the count. Home-plate umpire John Bacon then called strike three on a changeup that Refsnyder, after a brief hesitation, challenged by tapping his helmet.
The strike was overturned - it was clearly a ball - and at that point Bacon had lost all seven challenges combined from the Mariners and Cardinals.
A 35-year-old in his 11th big-league season, Refsnyder used a challenge for the first time. It wasn't a comfortable reaction.
"It's not super natural to question the umpire like that," he said. "But I'm thankful. Obviously, that was huge."
Refsnyder worked a 3-2 count and then turned on a sweeper that Romero left over the middle of the plate. A week earlier in Seattle, Refsnyder ended an 0-for-18 start to his Mariners tenure with a first-pitch homer to lead off the game against Texas left-hander MacKenzie Gore, which came just a few days after the birth of Refsnyder's third child.
Refsnyder became the first Mariners slugger to hit a leadoff homer and a pinch-hit, go-ahead homer in the ninth inning (or later) in the same season.
"It's been a frustrating start for me," Refsnyder said. "... I've been feeling pretty good, but at the end of the day, I haven't really been coming through for the team. So (to) just come through in that moment felt really, really good. I take my preparation pretty seriously. I care a lot. This is a great group of guys, so it felt good to come through there."
Jose A. Ferrer, one day after he threw two scoreless innings against the Cardinals, earned his first save for the Mariners with a 1-2-3 ninth. Andres Muñoz and Matt Brash were both unavailable after they'd both pitched the first two games of the series.
Gabe Speier got two outs in the seventh inning and Eduard Bazardo needed just 12 pitches to record four outs through the eighth inning.
Cole Young continued his hot stretch with a broken-bat bloop single to right field in the seventh inning, driving in Connor Joe from second base to tie the score at 2-2.
Joe doubled with two outs to set up Young's game-tying single.
The Cardinals put runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, but Hancock managed to work out of trouble, allowing only a leadoff homer to rookie JJ Wetherholt in the third.
In the sixth, the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead when rookie left fielder Nathan Church turned on a Hancock changeup and sent it out to right field.
It was Church's third homer in two games against the Mariners. He also robbed Mitch Garver of what would have been a home run Saturday.
After each of the Cardinals' runs, the Mariners answered right back in the top half of the next inning, something that was especially notable for M's manager Dan Wilson.
"That makes it a lot tougher on them, and we were able to do that twice," Wilson said. "... In general, all of the at-bats have gotten better (lately) ... for everybody. It's coming at a really good time and it's great to see that again.
The Mariners, playing without red-hot first baseman Josh Naylor (quad), won their fourth game in a row, and they improved to 5-6 in one-run games.
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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 4:55 PM.