8/25/25

(Seattle, WA) What started out as an online joke quickly morphed into an actual rivalry with an actual trophy up for grabs as the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres continued the battle for the first ever Vedder Cup on Monday night. With a trophy designed by the musician himself, Eddie Vedder impacted and continues to impact both the Seattle and San Diego communities. However, things were definitely favoring the M’s to take home the trophy after sweeping the Padres in San Diego back in May. That meant that the M’s just had to win one game in this three-game series to secure the Cup.

With San Diego’s backs to the wall, they would need one of their trade acquisitions to perform well as a familiar face to the M’s took the ball in the opener. JP Sears was traded from the A’s to Padres at the deadline and the lefty took the mound against his former AL West rivals for the 12th time in his career. Bryce Miller would make just his second start since coming off the IL and after battling with the Phillies, the young righty was looking to improve against another World Series contender.

Mariners 9, Padres 6 (Game One)

Bryce Miller got off to a nice start after stranding a one-out double. In the bottom of the 1st, more history was made by the Mariners franchise catcher. With nobody on and one out, Cal Raleigh faced off in a great battle with lefty JP Sears. After fouling off the seventh pitch of the AB, Raleigh was ready for a 3-2 fastball that Sears missed with and left it down and in. Raleigh crushed it into the upper deck in left field for his 50th home run of the season. Raleigh became just the second Mariner to ever homer 50 times in a single season, joining Ken Griffey Jr. on that list. The year of Raleigh just continues as Seattle grabbed the early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the 2nd, San Diego’s bats came alive and showed off their power. Gavin Sheets was the first to do damage as he launched his 18th home run of the season out to right center to tie the game at 1-1 as he continues his breakout season. Bryce Miller would then get Ramón Laureano to line out for the second out before Jake Cronenworth came to the plate. The underrated second baseman got his hands inside a fastball on the inner black and crushed it out to right for his 10th of the year to give the Padres the lead. Following a walk to the #9 hitter Freddy Fermin, Fernando Tatis Jr. snapped his homer drought with a two-run shot to center for his 18th of the season. Three home runs in the inning has turned the vibes sour as the Padres took a 4-1 lead.

Luckily for Seattle, they got a couple of those runs back to hit the reset button in the home half of the 2nd. Mitch Garver started the mini rally with a grounder that somehow got by the elite defender Manny Machado at third for a rare error. In came Jorge Polanco who chased a sweeper running in off the plate but hit it on a line out to left field. The ball had just enough height to get over the wall for Polanco’s 20th home run of the season. The two-run shot gave the Mariners a little bit of a jolt as they cut their deficit to 4-3.

Miller would hang up a couple of zeros in the 3rd and 4th to keep it a one-run game into the bottom of the 4th. Seattle would put together a very promising threat with a Josh Naylor single, followed by a Mitch Garver walk, and another single by Jorge Polanco to load the bases with nobody out. Mike Shildt decided to keep his starter out and it paid off a little bit as Sears got J.P. Crawford to hit into a 4-6-3 double play while a run did come home. The bases loaded, no-out threat turned into just a run but the M’s had tied it up at 4-4.

Bryce Miller’s final inning was a quick 1-2-3 top of the 5th and that seemed to jumpstart the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Julio Rodríguez reached on a fielder’s choice where Cal Raleigh was erased at second for out #2. It didn’t seem like the inning would be anything special, but that’s just what it turned into. Eugenio Suárez extended the inning with a walk for Josh Naylor. The contact oriented first baseman slapped the first pitch the other way into left field for a base hit, scoring Julio and putting the Mariners back out in front. Another walk for Mitch Garver loaded the bases and Jorge Polanco came through once again. A grounder snuck inside first base for a fair ball and extras bases. Suárez and Naylor scored on Polanco’s 16th double of the year to make it 7-4. A two-run bloop single by J.P. Crawford capped off the five-run inning as the Mariners had taken a commanding 9-4 lead.

San Diego cut into the deficit with a solo shot by Ramón Laureano in the 7th to make it 9-5. Matt Brash ran into big trouble in the top of the 8th that looked like it could completely derail the Mariners Vedder Cup win. Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn both singled before a two-out walk to Gavin Sheets loaded the bases. With the tying run coming to the plate in Ramón Laureano, Brash got ahead 0-2 before failing to get Laureano to chase. With a 2-2 count, Brash locked in and landed a sinker at the bottom of the zone for a called strike three. Brash dug deep and got out of the jam with no damage done and the Mariners still leading 9-5.

Andrés Muñoz entered in a non-save situation in the bottom of the 9th and got Jake Cronenworth to groundout to begin the inning. Will Wagner would reach on a pinch hit single to turn the lineup card back over to Fernando Tatis Jr. Muñoz got Tatis to hit a grounder to third, but Geno’s throw to second sailed into right field and allowed Wagner to move up to third and Tatis to reach second. Once again things were hairy but Seattle traded an out for a run on a grounder by Luis Arraez. Muñoz would then blow a fastball by Manny Machado to slam the door on this one. Six homers were it in the opener but when the dust settled it was the Mariners defeating the Padres 9-6 to secure the first ever Vedder Cup.

Notable Performances

Padres

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Jorge Polanco- 3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Bryce Miller (W, 3-5)- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

Momentum seems to be shifting back into the favor of the Seattle Mariners (71-61) who have started off the homestand with a 3-1 record. Houston had Monday off so the M’s cut their deficit in the AL West to just 1 1/2 games. In the Wild Card race, Boston defeated Baltimore 4-3 while New York blew out Washington 10-5. All three teams on the outside looking in lost as Cleveland was shutout by Tampa Bay, Texas fell to the Angels, and Kansas City got blanked by the White Sox. Boston maintains the top Wild Card spot by half of a game over New York and one game ahead of Seattle who still holds the final spot. Kansas City is the first team out, four games back of Seattle while Texas sits 5 1/2 back and Cleveland six games back.

The two west coast foes will continue their three-game series on Tuesday as the Mariners will look to win this set against San Diego. It’ll be a battle of two veterans in the middle game as Dylan Cease (6-11, 4.71 ERA) gets the start for the Padres. After being the center of so many trade talks, Cease stayed put, but walks continue to be a problem. Even worse, Cease is 0-8 with a 5.65 ERA on the road this season. Luis Castillo (8-7, 3.57 ERA) will try to complete a strong turn through the rotation for the Mariners. Castillo is coming off back-to-back bad starts for the first time this season but owns a 2.41 ERA at T-Mobile Park this season. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm.

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