ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Josh Naylor’s solo home run in the sixth inning proved to be the difference as the Seattle Mariners edged the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Friday night at Busch Stadium III.

George Kirby tossed six innings of five-hit, two-run ball to earn his fourth win of the season, and Andrés Muñoz worked a scoreless ninth for his fourth save as Seattle improved to 12-15. St. Louis slipped to 14-11 despite outhitting the Mariners 8-4.

The Mariners struck first in the second inning. Randy Arozarena led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout by Luke Raley and scored on Cole Young’s single to center field. Seattle extended its lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Dominic Canzone singled home Josh Naylor, who had walked.

St. Louis answered in the bottom of the fourth. After Alec Burleson walked and Jordan Walker reached on a fielder’s choice, Nolan Gorman doubled down the right-field line to put runners at second and third. Masyn Winn then lined a single to right field, scoring Walker and Gorman to tie the game at 2-2.

The tie lasted only until the top of the sixth. Naylor led off with a home run to right-center field, his third of the season, off Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. That would be the final run of the game.

Pallante took the loss despite a strong performance. He allowed three earned runs on four hits over 5 1-3 innings, striking out eight and walking two. Kirby scattered five hits, walked one and struck out two for the win.

Seattle’s bullpen held St. Louis scoreless over the final three innings. Eduard Bazardo recorded two outs in the seventh, Gabe Speier got one out while allowing two hits, and Matt Brash pitched a perfect eighth. Muñoz gave up a single to Nathan Church in the ninth but struck out two to close the game.

St. Louis had several chances to tie or take the lead. In the eighth, the Cardinals put two runners on base with one out on singles by JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera. But Alec Burleson struck out and Jordan Walker grounded into an inning-ending double play. In the ninth, after Muñoz struck out Masyn Winn, Church singled but Ramón Urías struck out to end the game.

The Cardinals’ bullpen also performed well. Gordon Graceffo struck out two over two perfect innings, and Justin Bruihl and George Soriano each contributed a scoreless frame. But Pallante’s three earned runs were enough to hand him his second loss.

Seattle managed only four hits total, but three of them went for extra bases — Arozarena’s double, Canzone’s single and Naylor’s homer. The Mariners also drew five walks.

St. Louis collected eight hits, including two each from Gorman and Winn. Gorman doubled and Winn drove in two runs. Church also had two hits.

The game lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 31,304.

Seattle next faces St. Louis again Saturday in the second game of the series. The Mariners then travel to Minnesota for three games before returning home to host Kansas City.

St. Louis will play the Mariners again Saturday and Sunday before heading to Pittsburgh for a four-game series against the Pirates.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 6, Seattle 3. The Interstat ELO system gave Seattle a 54.00 percent probability to win. The Mariners were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of five runs went over the over-under line of eight.