Cardinals hit 6 HRs in 11-6 win over Mariners

SEATTLE -- In a ballpark known to keep hitters at bay, the St. Louis Cardinals flexed their power at Safeco Field on Sunday.

Matt Carpenter and Tommy Pham each homered twice as the Cardinals went deep six times in an 11-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

"Nice to see the power show up" Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "This was a story about the offense, and we were hoping we would see it, happy we did."

Jedd Gyorko and Matt Holliday also homered for St. Louis, which tied a season-high with six long balls. Carpenter, Holliday, and Aledmys Diaz each had three hits as the Cardinals finished with 17 -- including 13 for extra bases.

Gyorko and Pham led off the seventh with back-to-back home runs against reliever Nick Vincent (1-7) to break a 6-6 tie. Holliday extended St. Louis' lead to 9-6 with a solo shot in the eighth against Edwin Diaz. Pham and Carpenter each hit their second home runs, both solo shots, in the ninth.

"They come in bunches it seems like," Pham said after hitting his first two of the season. "I'm just glad to be a part of it."

Kevin Siegrist (5-2) allowed one run on two hits in 1 1/3 inning to get the win.

Franklin Gutierrez tied the game at 6-6 with a three-run homer against Siegrist in the bottom of the sixth. A two-out single by Ketel Marte knocked St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia out of the game, and Gutierrez drilled a 1-1 fastball from Siegrist into the Mariners' bullpen in left field.

"It was definitely trending in their direction," Matheny said. "Just a shame that we couldn't hold on to that for Jaime. Got to a spot where they made the most of their opportunity and it definitely did shift the momentum."

Four straight extra-base hits helped the Cardinals erase Seattle's 3-1 in the fifth. Consecutive one-out doubles by Diaz, Holliday and Stephen Piscotty tied the score. Brandon Moss then put the Cardinals ahead with an RBI triple against Seattle starter James Paxton. An error by Kyle Seager capped the scoring and put the St. Louis ahead 5-3.

Carpenter extended St. Louis' lead to 6-3 with a solo home run in the sixth against reliever Donn Roach, his third extra-base hit of the afternoon.

"St. Louis swung the bats very well today," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We didn't throw it so good, home runs and the extra-base hits certainly mounted against us. Played pretty well in the series. Obviously, today just got away from us."

Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer, his 19th, to lead off the third and put the Mariners ahead 3-1. Cruz finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Diaz had a ground-rule RBI double to put St. Louis up 1-0 in the first.

Cruz tied it with a run-scoring fielder's choice in the bottom of the inning. Shawn O'Malley gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead with a ground-rule double in the second.

Garcia labored through 5 2/3 innings, allowing single runs in each of the first three innings, and getting tagged for two more on Gutierrez's ninth home run of the season.

"Jaime did what he had to to stay in the game, keep us in it," Matheny said. "I thought he got better as he went. Bullpen came in and helped out.

Paxton was lifted after the fifth, ending a streak of four straight starts in which he lasted six or more innings.

"I felt like I was battling all day. Didn't have my ace stuff," Paxton said. "The command wasn't really there but we were fighting. ... Holliday hit that changeup down in the zone and then a couple jam jobs, but it was tough. That stuff happens and you just have to fight through it."

Shielding the sun

Pham used his equipment to help him secure a fly ball in center field during the seventh inning. On Chris Iannetta's fly ball with two outs in the seventh, Pham took off his hat, using it to shield off the sun before collecting the third out of the inning. "That's old school," Matheny said. "That's pre-sunglasses days."

Trainer's room

Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker (right foot tendinitis) threw a bullpen session and could start Thursday when the Mariners host Baltimore. "Both he and (Wade) Miley were out there throwing today," Servais said. "Expecting everything to be good going forward."

Cardinals: 3B Jhonny Peralta was given a day off Sunday, his first since being activated from the 15-day DL on June 7. "Figured we would wait until he needed it, and it looks like he needed it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Up next

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (6-4) makes his team-leading 16th start of the season today as the Cardinals begin a four-game series against the Royals.

Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (6-6) makes his first career start against the Pirates on Tuesday after a day off today.