Mariners' Josh Naylor keeps heating up, blasts go-ahead homer in win over Cardinals

ST. LOUIS - Josh Naylor got to trot a lot Friday night, and that was very good news for the Mariners in their 3-2 victory over the Cardinals before 31,304 at Busch Stadium.

Further distancing himself from the worst slump of his career to begin a season, Naylor belted the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning off St. Louis starter Andre Pallante, a no-doubt line-drive blast out to right field.

It was his third homer of the season, measured at 107.3 mph off the bat and 418 feet in projected distance, and it came a game after he delivered a walkoff single in a 5-4 win over the Athletics on Wednesday.

It also gave the Mariners a much-needed jolt to begin a six-game Midwest road trip. They had lost eight of their first nine road games to begin the season.

Getting that first one on the road is really important to set the tone for the series," Naylor said. "The guys did a great job today through and through -offense and defense, pitching, baserunning. It was an awesome, complete game."

The lumbering first baseman had set up the Mariners' second run in the fourth inning in most entertaining fashion. On the first pitch, Naylor fouled a split-fingered fastball off his left foot, and he need a minute to walk off the pain after a visit from M's manager Dan Wilson and team trainer Kyle Torgerson.

Back in the box, Naylor managed to work a six-pitch walk.

Before the very next pitch - before Pallante even had a chance to start his windup - Naylor took off from first base on a stolen-base attempt. He got such a big jump that he was practically able to walk the last 15 feet to second base, reaching without a throw from catcher Iván Herrera.

Get this: In 91 games with the Mariners (including playoffs), Naylor is now a perfect 23 for 23 in stolen-base attempts.

All things considered, it has to be one of the most unbelievable stats in MLB today. Out of 352 players measured this season, Naylor ranks 351st in sprint speed, at 23.9 feet per second, according to MLB's advanced metrics.

Naylor came around to score from second base when Dominic Canzone sent an 0-2 sinker from Pallante the other way to left field. Naylor, in the one instance all night when he needed his, um, wheels, sprinted around third and scored with a slide to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

After the game, Naylor had a bag of ice wrapped around his left foot, but he brushed off any concern.

"This is how he plays; this is what he does," Wilson said. " ... He plays the game hard and everyone around him plays the game hard because he's leading it."

Over his last six games, Naylor has 10 hits in 20 at-bats, with one homer, two doubles, four walks and four strikeouts.

"It's a long season, and it's a hard game we play," Naylor said. "So you just keep your confidence up, keep your positivity up. Show up every day is the most important thing. If you're not gonna show up, you have no chance to succeed. So showing up every day and just going to work - good, bad or ugly. Put in the work and you'll go to bed happy."

The Cardinals tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth on Masyn Winn's soft single to right field off a George Kirby slider well off the plate, a 70.7-mph hit off the bat to drive in runners from second and third.

The Mariners retook the lead when Naylor, leading off the sixth inning, turned on a 94.4-mph fastball from Pallante, low and in, and sent it out to right. Naylor took his time rounding the bases.

Cole Young's two-out single drove in Randy Arozarena to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Arozarena led off the inning with a double into the right-center gap and advanced to third on Luke Raley's deep fly out.

Kirby pitched into the seventh inning, allowing two runs on five hits, to continue his strong start to the year.

"(Winn) put a good swing on that (two-strike slider), so kudos to him for that," Kirby said. "But then after that, I was happy how I just settled in the last two innings."

The Mariners bullpen followed with three dominant innings.

After playing 13 games in 13 days - during which they went 7-6 - the Mariners had an off-day in St. Louis on Thursday, a much-needed chance to rest for the beleaguered relievers, in particular.

Given that, Wilson was aggressive with his use of his high-leverage arms Friday, turning immediately to Matt Brash in the seventh inning after Kirby allowed a leadoff single to Winn.

Brash retired the next three batters to continue his stellar start to the season.

Lefty Gabe Speier allowed back-to-back singles to open the eighth inning before striking out Alec Burleson, a left-handed slugger, swinging through an elevated fastball.

Wilson quickly called on right-hander Eduard Bazardo to face Jordan Walker, the Cardinals' right-handed slugger whose eight homers put him among MLB's leaders in the early going.

Bazardo got ahead 0-2 in the count and then threw a sweeper to induce a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

"You have to manage it, too, going forward," Wilson said of the bullpen usage. "And it's always something that we're looking at. We don't want to put too much on them too early."

Andrés Muñoz allowed a 111.9-mph blast off the bat of the Cardinals' Nolan Gorman to begin the bottom of the ninth, but the line drive was hit directly at M's right fielder Rob Refsnyder for the first out.

After a strikeout of Winn, Muñoz worked around Nathan Church's two-out single to end the game with a strikeout of Ramon Urías. The Mariners' embattled closer celebrated with an emphatic fist pump.

"He was aggressive tonight in the strike zone," Wilson said. "And that's what you love to see from your closer.

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