ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — The Seattle Mariners rallied for two runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-9 on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium III, splitting the first two games of the series.

Seattle improved to 13-15, while St. Louis dropped to 14-12. The Mariners pounded out 19 hits, the Cardinals 14. The game lasted 3 hours, 16 minutes before an announced crowd of 27,236.

Seattle seized an early lead. Rob Refsnyder struck out leading off the game, but Cal Raleigh singled. Julio Rodríguez followed with a two-run homer, his second of the season, to give the Mariners a 2-0 advantage. After Josh Naylor struck out, Randy Arozarena doubled but was left stranded.

St. Louis answered in the bottom of the first. JJ Wetherholt led off with a solo homer, his fourth. Iván Herrera then hit a solo shot, his fourth, to tie the game 2-2. The Cardinals could not add more as Alec Burleson lined out, Jordan Walker struck out and Nolan Gorman flied out.

The Mariners regained the lead in the second. Mitch Garver singled, then Cole Young struck out. Will Wilson hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot to left, putting Seattle ahead 4-2. Refsnyder grounded out, Raleigh singled but was caught stealing to end the inning.

St. Louis cut the deficit in the bottom of the second. Masyn Winn grounded out, then Nathan Church hit a solo homer, his third, to make it 4-3. Pedro Pagés singled, Victor Scott II flied out, Wetherholt singled to move Pagés to third, but Herrera flied out to end the inning.

The Cardinals erupted for four runs in the third to take the lead. Burleson lined out, Walker singled, Gorman singled to put runners at first and second. Winn singled to right, scoring Walker and sending Gorman to third. Church hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gorman and moving Winn to second. Pagés then hit a two-run homer, his second, to give St. Louis a 7-4 lead. Scott II lined out sharply to end the inning.

Seattle chipped away. In the fourth, Cole Young led off with a solo homer, his third, making it 7-5. Wilson grounded out, Refsnyder singled, but Raleigh grounded into a double play.

The Mariners added a run in the fifth. Rodríguez singled, Naylor grounded out to advance Rodríguez to third, and Arozarena hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Rodríguez to cut the lead to 7-6.

Seattle tied the game in the sixth. Garver flied out, Young doubled, Dominic Canzone singled to center to score Young, making it 7-7. Luke Raley struck out and Raleigh grounded out.

St. Louis regained the lead in the seventh. Gorman struck out, Winn singled, then Church hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to right center, giving the Cardinals a 9-7 advantage. Pagés singled, Scott II struck out, and Wetherholt flied out.

The Mariners answered immediately in the eighth. Garver singled, Young singled, and Leo Rivas sacrificed both runners into scoring position. Connor Joe then singled to right, scoring Garver and Young to tie the game 9-9. Raleigh struck out, Rodríguez singled to put runners at first and third, but Naylor flied out to end the inning.

Seattle took the lead for good in the ninth. Arozarena grounded out, J.P. Crawford singled on a bunt, Garver walked, and Young was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rivas singled to center, scoring Crawford and Garver to put Seattle ahead 11-9. Joe lined out to center, Raleigh walked to reload the bases, but Rodríguez struck out on a foul tip to end the inning.

Andrés Muñoz, who earned his fifth save, worked the bottom of the ninth. Gorman walked, Winn struck out, and Church grounded into a double play, first baseman Josh Naylor to shortstop Crawford, to end the game.

Matt Brash pitched a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout to earn the win, improving to 2-0. Riley O’Brien took the loss for St. Louis, falling to 3-1.

Key offensive performances included Nathan Church’s two home runs and four RBIs for the Cardinals. Pedro Pagés went 3 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs. Wetherholt had three hits and a homer. For Seattle, Julio Rodríguez had three hits, including a homer, and two RBIs. Cole Young had three hits, a homer and an RBI. Will Wilson hit a two-run homer. Mitch Garver had two hits and scored three times. Leo Rivas drove in two runs with a clutch ninth-inning single.

Jose A. Ferrer pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Seattle, allowing two hits and striking out one.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of St. Louis 5, Seattle 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Seattle a 54.00 percent probability to win. Seattle was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of 20 runs went under the over-under line of 8.