Padres’ bats stifled in Vedder Cup opener, fall to Mariners 5-1
Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Petco Park- San Diego, California
The San Diego Padres hosted the Seattle Mariners on Friday night for the first of a three-game set. The series commences the Vedder Cup showdown and saw right-hander Stephen Kolek square off against Seattle’s Logan Evans. The Friars were looking to make it three straight victories and continue their home dominance.
The contest got off to a hot start for the Mariners. Stephen Kolek’s first pitch of the ballgame was clobbered by shortstop J.P. Crawford for his fourth home run of the season. The blast towered up and over the Petco Porch at 100.3 mph off the bat to give the M’s a quick and early 1-0 lead. After the leadoff shot, Kolek surrendered back-to-back singles to Jorge Polanco and Julio Rodriguez, but induced a Cal Raleigh double play and Randy Arozarena‘s lineout to limit the early damage.
J.P. Crawford leads off the Vedder Cup with a homer. #RivalryWeekend pic.twitter.com/8zfiUg9zaE
— MLB (@MLB) May 17, 2025
Luis Arraez lined a single into left field in the bottom half of the first, but righty Logan Evans would retire Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill for a clean inning. Kolek bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning to get through the second.
As Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez singled to start the bottom of the third, it seemed like San Diego was in business with Manny Machado coming to the plate. The National League’s second-leading hitter (in terms of batting average) lined the baseball up the middle, but J.P. Crawford would snag it and turn a ranging double play to kill the Friar rally. To end the frame, Jackson Merrill struck out on a nasty back-foot sweeper from Logan Evans.
A one-out walk to Cal Raleigh would come back to haunt Kolek, as Rowdy Tellez jumped on a 1-0 sweeper for a two-run shot to extend the Mariner lead to 3-0 in the fourth.
Rowdy Tellez launches a no-doubt home run ? #RivalryWeekend pic.twitter.com/ibFL3ymVs5
— MLB (@MLB) May 17, 2025
After a two-out double off the bat of Luis Arraez in the bottom of the fifth, Manny Machado would ground out to end the inning. Despite collecting seven hits, including a two-out triple from Jake Cronenworth in the fourth, the Padres were held scoreless and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position through the first five frames.
Julio Rodriguez’s leadoff single in the sixth inning would set up an opposite-field two-run blast from Cal Raleigh to give Seattle their third home run of the night and a commanding 5-0 advantage. Stephen Kolek’s night would end after surrendering a base hit after the Raleigh homer. Mike Shildt called upon Wandy Peralta to tackle the rest of the inning. The lefty collected a strikeout in the frame.
Stephen Kolek’s Final Line:
5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Cal Raleigh dumps his 14th HR of the season into the left field seats #RivalryWeekend pic.twitter.com/UUf1j0LBgX
— MLB (@MLB) May 17, 2025
Although Logan Evans ran in and out of trouble throughout the night, the 23-year-old righty completed six scoreless innings on 89 pitches in his fifth career start. His night would end on a high note, getting Jake Cronenworth to ground into a force out.
Logan Evans’ Final Line:
6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Logan Evans, Vicious 86mph Back Foot Slider. ? pic.twitter.com/zQh3okbdjY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2025
Seattle’s pitching staff retired nine Padre hitters in a row before Gavin Sheets was hit in the foot by a breaking ball from reliever Collin Snider in the ninth. Jake Cronenworth would finally get the Friars on the board with a one-out double that would score Sheets from first base to erase the shutout. In the end, the Padre rally was short-lived after Elias Díaz and Tyler Wade struck out to seal a 5-1 victory for the Mariners.
The M’s used a combination of Evans and three relievers in the victory.
It was all Seattle on Friday night in the Gaslamp Quarter. The Vedder Cup continues Saturday night at 5:40 p.m. PT when Nick Pivetta looks for a bounce-back start against Emerson Hancock.
Armando Dueñas is a 25 year-old journalist. He is a native San Diegan who grew up in the South Bay area. A lifelong Padres fan and baseball enthusiast, he resides just about fifteen minutes from Petco Park, where his love of the game began.