Mariners sweep Padres, take 3-0 lead in Vedder Cup
By Jeffrey Nooney, edited by Charles Hamaker
San Diego, CA - After a brutal six-game homestand that saw them go 1-5, our Seattle Mariners went down to San Diego and swept the Padres to take an early 3-0 lead in the “Vedder Cup,” finally an official rivalry now due to MLB’s “rivalry weekend.” This Major League Baseball “Rivalry Weekend” featured many Interleague, geographic and other rivalries across MLB, including the Padres and Mariners. The two teams share their Spring Training facility in Peoria, Arizona and both teams are without a true cross-town rival, so this was the natural fit for both teams. In March of this year, the two teams officially announced “The Vedder Cup” moniker, honoring Pearl Jam’s front man Eddie Vedder. The two teams play each other six times this season with the next series being played August 25th-27th at T-Mobile Park. The winner of the series will receive the Vedder Cup trophy, designed by Eddie Vedder, and Seattle is off to a great start in terms of acquiring that trophy in it’s inaugural year given that sweep.
The Mariners record now stands at 26-19 (.578 winning percentage) and they have a 2.5 game lead over the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers for the top spot in the American League West. The Mariners run differential ranks fourth in the American League behind the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and the surging Minnesota Twins.
Game one: Mariners win 5-1
Seattle shortstop and unofficial captain J.P. Crawford set the tone for this series with a solo home run on the first pitch of the game off Padres starting pitcher and former Mariners farm hand Stephen Kolek. Kolek was selected in the 2024 Rule-5 draft by the Padres from the Mariners minor league system. That was it for scoring until the top of the fourth inning when Rowdy Tellez hit his seventh home run of the season, giving Seattle a 3-0 lead. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 14th home run in the top of the sixth inning making the score 5-0 in favor of Seattle as they showed a strong performance in this opening game of the weekend series. The Padres scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning off a Jake Cronenworth RBI double. On a night when the Mariners scored five runs, in a somewhat amusing stat they went 0-4 with runners in scoring position as all five runs scored came via the long ball.
Seattle right-handed starting pitcher Logan Evans (2-1, 2.57 ERA) got the nod for the Mariners in this one on the mound and delivered six scoreless innings against this tough Padres lineup. While he did give up seven hits, Evans only walked one and struck out three. You may have noticed Evans’ ERA drop quite a bit, and that’s because there was a late scoring change from his previous start against the Rangers down in Texas. His six earned runs in that game were changed to unearned runs and an error was credited to third baseman Ben Williamson, which dings Ben a bit but helps Evans ERA look much better. It’s an exciting start for Logan Evans in this one, considering his continued improvements as he is all of the sudden (considering the three starting rotation arms that are down for them right now) a very important piece for the Mariners right now and the sort of lineup that he faced in this game.
Game two: Mariners win 4-1
Seattle right-handed starting pitcher Emerson Hancock (1-2, 6.21 ERA) may not have got out of the fifth inning in this game, but he pitched well enough to keep the Mariners in the ball game. Hancock went four and two thirds innings, giving up just one run (earned) on six hits while walking only one and striking out three. He got into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning as he loaded the bases with two outs, so Mariners manager Dan Wilson elected to give the ball to one of his best relievers, Gabe Speier. Speier, a left-handed pitcher, was brought in to face Jackson Merrill, a left-handed hitter. Merrill is hitting .382 and has a 1.025 OPS, so bringing in Speier was a big deal and a continued development as it appears that Wilson is caring less about handedness matchups with Speier and using his best relievers in big spots, as seen when he brought Speier in during the second game of the Yankees series this past homestand. Speier struck Merrill out on a high fastball to get out of the inning still tied at one. The Seattle bullpen in total pitched four and a third scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, no walks and striking out five. Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz pitched an inning and a third to earn his 14th save of the season, as he still has not allowed an earned run all season.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, The Padres scored first thanks to Gavin Sheets’ sixth home run of the season on a solo shot. The Mariners offense struggled against San Diego starting pitcher Nick Pivetta. In Pivetta’s six innings of work, the offense got one run on two hits and just one walk. That lone run came in the top of the fifth inning when Rowdy Tellez hit his eighth home run of the season, tying the game at one as his power production continues to be somewhat awake dating back to that road Blue Jays series. Just like the night before, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit yet another home run, this time giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning. In the top of the ninth inning, Seattle utility man Dylan Moore drove in the final two runs for the Mariners with a single, giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead and some nice insurance as they secured the series victory with this game two win.
Game three: Mariners win 6-1
San Diego superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., who is the early favorite to win National League MVP award, led the series finale off with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Padres an early 1-0 lead against Seattle starter Bryan Woo. That was the score until the top of the fourth inning when the Mariners scored three runs off Padres starting pitcher Michael King. Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena tied the game at one with his sixth home run of the season, before fellow outfielder Leody Taveras drove in Rowdy Tellez with a ground-rule double, giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Mariners utility man Miles Mastrobuoni drove in Mitch Garver with an RBI single to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead and help Seattle begin to pull away. In the top of the sixth inning, Mitch Garver singled to drive in the Mariners fourth run of the game, scoring Arozarena as the offense continued for a Seattle team that had seemed outmatched coming into this final game, let alone this series in San Diego. The Mariners got two more runs in the top of the ninth inning from a sacrifice fly from Cal Raleigh and an RBI single from Julio Rodríguez.
Mariners right handed starting pitcher Bryan Woo (5-1, 2.65 ERA) threw a gem and outdueled Padres starter Michael King for his fifth win of the season. Woo pitched seven strong innings while allowing just one run (earned) on five hits, no walks and five strikeouts. With injuries to George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller, the Mariners needed to get the best out of Woo and he has delivered emphatically so far this season. Woo has gone at least six full innings in all nine starts this season, and Seattle has won seven of his nine starts. I am not saying he is the front runner for the Cy Young award quite yet, but he looks like an All-Star type pitcher so far, seemingly improving his odds for that honor every week that he takes the mound for a Mariners team that desperately needs a hero in the rotation with the injuries that they’ve suffered.
What’s next?
Following this three-game weekend sweep of the San Diego Padres, our Seattle Mariners head to the Windy City to take on the 14-33 Chicago White Sox in a three-game series that continues this current ten-game road trip. The White Sox are on a four-game losing streak coming into Monday’s game and have lost six of their last ten games. They are the worst team in the American League with just a .298 winning percentage and rank 29th out of 30 teams in terms of winning percentage, ahead of the 8-38 Colorado Rockies (.174). Here are the projected pitching matchups for the upcoming series in Chicago:
May 19th (4:40PM PDT first pitch) - Luis Castillo (3-3, 3.65 ERA) versus Davis Martin (2-4, 3.65 ERA)
May 20th (4:40PM PDT first pitch) - Jhonathan Diaz (0-0, 0.00 ERA) versus Bryse Wilson (0-2, 6.00 ERA)
May 21st (11:10AM PDT first pitch) - Logan Evans (2-1, 2.57 ERA) versus Shane Smith (1-3, 2.05 ERA)
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