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Gordon Graceffo, who the Cardinals see as eventually a setup right-hander and possibly their future closer, entered with the tying run on base and three outs to get from the heart of the Seattle Mariners’ lineup. The Cardinals led 2-0 at the time starter Miles Mikolas left the mound to Graceffo with American League MVP candidate Cal Raleigh and his 53 homers strolling to the plate as the potential go-ahead run.

First came the walk.

Then came the noise.

Three consecutive Mariners reached base against Graceffo and the fourth hit a sacrifice fly to complete the erasure of the Cardinals’ lead on the way to Seattle’s 4-2 victory late Monday night at T-Mobile Park. Graceffo walked Raleigh and then all four balls in play against him left the bat at a cracking 95.9 mph or faster. Both of the runners Graceffo inherited scored, and he received his first loss of the season due to allowing Josh Naylor’s two-run double that reversed the game.

“It’s one of those things when you look at having your high-leverage guys down, you want to give him that opportunity to come in there and show the ability to miss some bats,� manager Oli Marmol said. “There have been times when he has been able to do it and times like tonight where it doesn’t go his way.�

Added pitching coach Dusty Blake: “Find a way to get them off the barrel.�

Just this past weekend, the Cardinals showcased how several right-handers have elbowed their way into higher-profile roles opened by dealing veterans at the trade deadline.

Riley O’Brien got a win and a save in back-to-back victories against the Giants this past weekend. Matt Svanson received votes for National League pitcher of the month for August, and he’s pitched four consecutive scoreless outings of at least four outs to lower his season ERA to 1.97. Kyle Leahy has been the Cardinals’ most reliable reliever of the young group on the opening day roster, and newest addition, Jorge Alcala, was being saved Monday for a late-inning spot, especially if the Cardinals maintained the lead.

The ramifications of holding Alcala for later and using Svanson, O’Brien, and Leahy this past weekend to cement consecutive wins against San Francisco meant limited availability for those same relievers Monday.

As the sixth started to go sideways on Mikolas, the call was for Graceffo to enter and face Raleigh, former Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez and Naylor, if necessary.

“That’s part of the growth,� Marmol said. “You have to continue to run him out there and give him those opportunities.�

Mikolas showed a way to calm the Mariners’ muscular offense. In addition to Raleigh and Rodriguez, Seattle boasts leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena and slugger Eugenio Suarez. Seattle had Suarez, acquired from Arizona at the trade deadline, and his 45 home runs batting sixth Monday. Batting sixth for the Cardinals was prospect Jimmy Crooks, who has been in the majors for less than a dozen days. It’s a tricky lineup to navigate, especially for a pitch-to-contact starter like Mikolas, and yet he saw a place in the strike zone to thrive.

With help from a diving catch in center field by Victor Scott II to rob Raleigh of an extra-base hit, Mikolas lived on the lower edge of the strike zone with a variety of pitches. He retired the first nine batters he faced, matching Seattle powerball starter Bryan Woo zero for zero through three innings. Alec Burleson tagged Woo for a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and Mikolas held that lead in place into the sixth.

“They’ve got a lot of guys who like to get it in the air,� Mikolas said. “So keep them on the ground. Keep them off balance. Try to keep ‘em guessing a lot of it is in, out and up, down. There’s a lot of good pop but a lot of guys who don’t want the ball down. And that’s what I’ve been doing really well lately.�

Mikolas limited the Mariners to two runs on four hits.

The Cardinals wanted to give him the sixth inning due to the state of the bullpen and how well Mikolas was pitching. Raleigh was due up third. If he could only tie the game to cut the Cardinals’ lead in half, Mikolas would likely have faced him. Mikolas altered that plan when he walked the No. 9 hitter and allowed a sharp single to Arozarena.

“I’m trying to get that sinker down, and I tried to put something extra special on it, which is stupid because all I have to do is throw it down,� Mikolas said. “It doesn’t have to be special. It cane be my worst sinker ever as long as it’s down. That’s one that will bother me. It’s as simple as just throw it down. You don’t want to make it special. I tried to put a little extra sink on it and it stayed up, and that’s what he hits.�

Graceffo has a variety of pitches to test hitters low in the zone.

He also has the horsepower to elevate or evade for strikeouts.

What he hasn’t been doing is consistently using his pitches in different areas of the strike zone to stop hitters from keying on where they know the fastball is going to be and how to drive it.

“It begins with being able to land enough different pitches in enough different parts of the zone where it becomes a challenge to cheat away or in or up or down,� Blake said. “So that’s Step 1. You’re trying to get weak contact, trying to get swing and miss, trying to get Strike 1 – whatever it might be. The more area that you can stretch the zone is a good kind of stepping-stone opportunity to make it tough for hitters with their approach.�

The Cardinals believe Graceffo has the stuff to be a late-inning reliever.

It’s where he’s placing the pitches that they’re working on.

Patterns or inability to execute a pitch at a certain spot can allow a hitter to ignore it entirely and hunt another pitch or another location for damage.

Look to the exit velocities as examples. The Mariners put four balls in play against Graceffo. Two went for hits. Two went for outs. All of them left the bat at what is considered standout exit velocity. The two four-seam fastballs the Mariners put in play against him left the bat at 95.9 mph and 99.1 mph. The slider Rodriguez stung for a sinker left the bat at 105.5 mph. Naylor’s double came on a curveball. It left Graceffo’s fingers at 82 mph.

Naylor drilled it for 107.1 mph.

“There are times when he spins it well and he gest it under the zone and he gets swing and miss and times when he doesn’t,� Marmol said. “But he catches more barrels than we like at the moment.�

He’ll continue to snag opportunities to work on ways to avoid them.

The Cardinals want to see him against more big-leaguers so that they can gather more information and work through more ideas to help him find more places his pitches can play in the strike zone. The goal is not just what to throw by hitters, but how to throw off hitters.

“I think next year you’re looking at a guy who should be able to go in there, in those high-leverage situations and get those outs,� Marmol said. “Build toward that.�