Bullpen Falters Again as Mariners Finish Sweep

The Cardinal Chronicle
Bullpen Falters Again as Mariners Finish Sweep
St. Louis, Mo. — By Ray Mileur

ST. LOUIS — For the second straight day at Busch Stadium, rookie slugger Nathan Church gave the Cardinals a late lead with one mighty swing.

And for the second straight day, it vanished.

Seattle erased St. Louis’ one-run edge in the seventh inning, then delivered the knockout blow in the ninth when pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder crushed a solo home run off left-hander JoJo Romero, lifting the Seattle Mariners to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

The loss completed a stunning three-game sweep by Seattle — a club that entered the series with just one road win all season — and sent the Cardinals into Pittsburgh carrying a four-game losing streak and plenty of questions about a taxed bullpen that simply had nothing left in the tank.

For a club that looked poised to turn the page after a strong road trip, this weekend became a hard lesson in how quickly momentum can disappear.

Church, however, continues to look like the real deal.

His sixth-inning solo blast — his third home run in two games and fifth of the young season — briefly put St. Louis ahead 2-1 and gave Busch Stadium life. At the moment it left his bat, it felt like another signature swing from the Cardinals’ emerging young star.

Instead, it became another footnote in another late collapse.

The bullpen, stretched thin after Saturday’s exhausting 11-9 loss in which nearly every available arm was used, could not hold the line. Right-hander Matt Svanson retired the first two hitters in the seventh before surrendering a double and then an RBI single by rookie Cole Young on an 0-2 pitch — the kind of mistake that keeps pitching coaches awake at night.

After Ryne Stanek struck out the side in a dominant eighth inning, Romero entered in the ninth and appeared to have Refsnyder finished on strikes — until Seattle successfully challenged the pitch using the Automated Ball-Strike system. The overturned call gave Refsnyder new life, and two pitches later he launched a 412-foot homer into the St. Louis afternoon.

That was the difference.

Lost in the heartbreak was an excellent start by Michael McGreevy, who deserved far better. McGreevy worked six sharp innings, allowing just one run on five hits — a solo homer by Cal Raleigh in the fourth — while striking out six and issuing no walks. He attacked the zone, worked efficiently, and handed the bullpen a lead.

It should have been enough.

At the plate, St. Louis again failed to cash in opportunities. JJ Wetherholt opened the scoring with his fifth home run of the season, continuing what has quietly become one of the strongest starts by a Cardinals leadoff hitter in decades. He is the first Cardinals leadoff man with five home runs in the club’s first 27 games since Ray Lankford hit seven in 1994.

But offense after that was scarce.

Church’s homer was St. Louis’ only hit after the third inning.

Alec Burleson endured a brutal weekend, going 0-for-12 in the series and falling to 2-for-25 over his last six games. Jordan Walker reached base three times with an infield single and two walks, but remains stuck in a power drought — no home runs since April 13 and batting just .205 over his last 10 games.

One odd constant: Cardinals hitters continue wearing pitches. Ramon Urías was plunked in the fourth inning, raising the club’s season total to 23 hit-by-pitches — the most in Major League Baseball.

That toughness is admirable.

The late-inning execution is not.

Worth noting: St. Louis has now lost seven straight games to Seattle dating back to 2024, and Sunday’s contest turned into an ABS showcase, with eight of the first nine ball-strike challenges overturned.

Up next, the Cardinals finally turn their attention inward — to the division.

In Game 28, they will face an Pittsburgh Pirates club Monday night in Pittsburgh for their first National League Central matchup of the season, their latest start to division play since 1993. Dustin May gets the ball.

No better time to stop the bleeding.

Sometimes baseball boils down to plain truth: your stars can give you the lead, but somebody still has to lock the barn door before the horses get out. This weekend, the Cardinals left it wide open.