8/26/25

(Seattle, WA) In the opener on Monday night, the Seattle Mariners locked up the first ever Vedder Cup, taking home the trophy as they moved to 4-0 on the season against the San Diego Padres. However, there was still a lot on the line on Tuesday as the two playoff contenders continued their three-game series, looking to close out the month of August with some momentum heading into the home stretch.

Luis Castillo would get the start for the Mariners as he was trying to continue his dominant 2025 at his home park. For San Diego, Dylan Cease would get the ball looking to prove that the Padres made the right decision in not trading away the veteran at the deadline.

Padres 7, Mariners 6 (Game Two)

While La Piedra was hoping to flush a tough road trip for him personally, it wasn’t meant to be and he got off to a very rough start. Fernando Tatis Jr. began the game with his 26th double of the season before Castillo recorded a couple of outs while keeping Tatis at second base. A walk to Ryan O’Hearn extended the inning for Xander Bogaerts who served a soft line drive just over the glove of Eugenio Suárez at third and into left field. Tatis was able to score to make it 1-0 Padres. Castillo then walked Gavin Sheets to load the bases for Ramón Laureano who delivered the big blow. Laureano sent a fastball at the top of the zone out to left center for a grand slam and his 21st home run of the season. Before the Mariners ever came to the plate, they were staring at a 5-0 deficit.

Seattle didn’t get a baserunner until the bottom of the 4th, but luckily their deficit didn’t grow until that point. Julio Rodríguez singled for the first Mariner hit and Josh Naylor followed with his own two-out base hit. Eugenio Suárez battled and extended the inning with a nine-pitch walk to load the bases for Jorge Polanco. While Dylan Cease was against the ropes, he was able to battle back and got Polanco to hit a grounder to Jake Cronenworth to escape the jam and preserve the Padres 5-0 lead.

Luis Castillo grinded through one more scoreless inning and while he did have a blow-up 1st, was able to go four more without allowing another run. Then the tides turned in the bottom of the 5th. With one out, J.P. Crawford slapped a single the other way into left field and Cole Young worked a walk to put two men on for the top of the order. Randy Arozarena would stand in and wasn’t wasting anytime. He jumped on the first pitch and crushed it out to left field for a no-doubt, three-run home run. It was Arozarena’s 25th home run of the year and brought the energy back to T-Mobile Park with the Mariners now trailing just 5-3.

They weren’t done in the inning yet either. Cal Raleigh would draw a walk which ended the night for Dylan Cease who really hit a wall after being perfect in his first three innings. Jason Adam would enter to face the middle of the Mariners order but couldn’t get by Julio who singled to right to bring the tying run to the plate in Josh Naylor. The lefty would get under one a bit too much and sent a harmless fly ball to center for the second out. Eugenio Suárez then came to the plate but quickly fell behind 0-2. After fouling off a pitch off the plate away, Geno got another slider running off the plate but was able to barrel it up out to left field. It had enough juice to get out as T-Mobile Park erupted on Geno’s 41st home run of the season. A couple of three-run blasts in the same inning had brought the M’s back and given them a 6-5 lead.

With Castillo done for the night, Seattle turned to the bullpen and brought in lefty Caleb Ferguson. He was in hot water quickly as Gavin Sheets and Ramón Laureano both doubled to put runners on second and third. Jake Cronenworth then slapped a base hit the other way to left field to score Sheets and tie the game back up at 6-6. Freddy Fermin then successfully laid down a safety squeeze to bring home Laureano and put the Padres back out in front 7-6. Gabe Speier had to come in to clean up the mess and did so successfully but the damage was done as the Mariners were once again staring at a deficit.

San Diego’s bullpen struck out five Mariners in a row to get the game to the 8th where Jeremiah Estrada gave up just a single to Jorge Polanco but that was it. Seattle would need to comeback against All-Star closer Robert Suarez in the 9th but did have the top of the order due up. Randy Arozarena hit a hard line drive right at center fielder Bryce Johnson for the first out before Cal Raleigh flew out to Ramón Laureano in left for the second out. Julio Rodríguez then sent a bullet to right but Fernando Tatis Jr. was there to make the catch and end the ballgame. Seattle’s bats provided the power but the bullpen couldn’t protect the one-run lead as the Mariners dropped game two to the Padres, 7-6.

Notable Performances

Padres

Mariners

• Eugenio Suárez- 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Randy Arozarena- 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Luis Castillo (ND)- 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

It was a missed opportunity for the Seattle Mariners (71-62) on Tuesday as the Houston Astros lost to the only team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in the Colorado Rockies. The rest of the Wild Card contenders all won including Boston, New York, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Texas which means the Mariners deficit in the AL West remains at 1 1/2 games while their lead for the final Wild Card spot is down to just three.

Seattle and San Diego finish up their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10pm in the rubber game of the set. An intriguing pitching matchup awaits as Bryan Woo (11-7, 2.94 ERA) looks to make it 26 consecutive starts going at least six innings as he faces the Padres for the second time this year. In his first outing against the Padres, Woo dominated in seven innings and allowed only one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts back in May. Yu Darvish (3-3, 5.36 ERA) will square off with his former division rival in the finale. Darvish was activated off the IL at the beginning of July and has alternated between good and bad starts through his first two months of the season.

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