9/11/24

(Seattle, WA) Interleague play came to an end this week as the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres battled it out for the Vedder Cup. Seattle just needed to win one of the games in the two-game set to win the Cup while the Padres were hoping for just a split of the season series but needed a sweep to do so. San Diego also continues to battle it out for a Wild Card in the National League and came into the series with the top spot in the Wild Card race.

Padres 7, Mariners 3 (Game 1, September 10th)

Returning home for the first time since August 28th, the Seattle Mariners got to play in front of home fans as the homestretch began. George Kirby looked to figure things out down the stretch and put an end to his struggles for the final run. Yu Darvish would present a tough challenge for the Mariners though as the Padres also looked to get some meaningful wins down the stretch.

Kirby put up a zero in the top of the 1st but Yu Darvish couldn’t answer in the home half. After retiring Victor Robles and Julio Rodríguez, Darvish fell behind of Cal Raleigh with a 2-1 count. Darvish would land a slider at the very bottom of the zone but in the middle of the plate and Raleigh went down and got it. Cal sent his 30th home run of the season out to right to give the Mariners a 1-0 early lead. With that home run, Cal Raleigh passed Dan Wilson for the second most home runs by a catcher in franchise history with 89. Only Mike Zunino has more with 95.

It wouldn’t take too long for the M’s to extend their lead. Leading off the top of the 2nd, Luke Raley continued to find success at the plate. Raley hit a screaming line drive over the fence in right for his 19th home run of the season. Seattle was getting to Darvish as they pulled away with the 2-0 advantage.

After looking strong in the first two innings, George Kirby began to run into trouble in the top of the 3rd. Donovan Solano and Luis Arraez both singled to put runners on first and second with one out for Fernando Tatis Jr. Kirby’s struggles with the long ball continued as his first pitch to Tatis was sent 399-feet to right center for a three-run shot. Home run #15 for Tatis gave the Padres their first lead over the Mariners this season at 3-2.

Some double plays helped get Darvish out of trouble and then in the 6th San Diego opened things up quite a bit. A leadoff double by Jurickson Profar put a runner on second immediately for the Padres. Manny Machado would then make Padres history. Machado sent his 26th home run of the season out to center to make it 5-2. It was also Machado’s 164th home run of the season which had him pass Nate Colbert for the most home runs in San Diego Padres history.

Manny Machado singled in a couple more runs in the 7th to make it 7-2 as Tanner Scott took over on the mound for San Diego. Seattle would put together a big threat following a Justin Turner walk and Jorge Polanco single. J.P. Crawford shot a grounder into left for a base hit to score Turner and make it 7-3. After Dylan Moore struck out, Victor Robles drew a walk to load the bases with just one out for Julio Rodríguez. The face of the franchise represented the tying run as he faced new pitcher Jason Adam. With a 2-2 count, Adam gave J-Rod a changeup right in the middle of the plate. Julio hit it hard but right to Xander Bogaerts at short, resulting in a 6-4-3 double play to kill the Mariner threat. Seattle left three runners stranded in the final two innings as well as they dropped the opener to the Padres, 7-3.

Notable Performances

Padres

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Luke Raley- 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
• George Kirby (L, 11-11)- 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Mariners 5, Padres 2 (Game 2, September 11th)

Looking for a series split and the Vedder Cup, Seattle’s hottest starting pitcher in the rotation took the mound in the finale as Bryan Woo took on Michael King and the Padres.

Randy Arozarena’s leadoff double in the bottom of the 2nd was wasted by the Mariners but they would strike first in the 3rd. With Woo retiring the first nine batters faced, Josh Rojas drew a one out walk followed by Victor Robles getting hit by a pitch. It looked as though Julio Rodríguez hit into another inning ending double play, but Xander Bogaerts throw to second was dropped by Jake Cronenworth, resulting in everyone being safe and the bases being loaded. Cal Raleigh then laced a single to right to move everyone up 90-feet, making it 1-0 Mariners. Randy Arozarena went down looking for the second out with the bases still loaded for Luke Raley. The big lefty came through on the seventh pitch of the AB with a base hit to right to open things up. Robles and Rodríguez both scored to make it 3-0 Mariners.

A diving catch in left by Randy Arozarena kept the Padres without a baserunner as Woo had retired all 15 batters he faced through five innings. Woo then sat down the Padres in order to make it 18 up, 18 down and he got some insurance in the bottom of the 6th. Adrian Morejon struggled out of the bullpen as he walked Luke Raley and Justin Turner. They both moved up on a wild pitch, but Jorge Polanco popped out for the first out. J.P. Crawford would be the big bat in the inning with a liner into the right field corner for extra bases. Raley and Turner scored on Crawford’s 15th double of the season to make it 5-0 with Bryan Woo still perfect.

Woo retired the first 19 batters he faced before allowing a baserunner. The first action for the Padres would be a solo shot by Fernando Tatis Jr. that just stayed fair down the left field line for his 16th home run of the season. The long bottom of the 6th seemed to negatively affect Woo as he then gave up a double to Jurickson Profar before striking out Manny Machado.  A walk to Jake Cronenworth ended Woo’s day as he was done after 6 2/3 brilliant innings. Troy Taylor entered to put out the fire, but things got tighter after a Xander Bogaerts RBI single made it 5-2 with the tying run coming to the plate. Taylor came up big as he struck out the very dangerous Jackson Merrill to end the inning. Seattle escaped major disaster as they held on to a 5-2 lead.

Fernando Tatis Jr. made a huge play on defense in the bottom of the 7th, robbing Randy Arozarena of a home run to end the inning. The score remained 5-2 into the 9th when Andrés Muñoz took over to try to close things out. He would sit down both Profar and Machado on strikes for two quick outs and Jake Cronenworth as the Padres last chance.  A harmless grounder to Jorge Polanco at second put things to an end as Seattle won the Veddar Cup and took the finale of their 2024 interleague slate, 5-2.

Notable Performances

Padres

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 8-2)- 6.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Luke Raley- 1-3, 2 RBI, R, BB
• J.P. Crawford- 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI

What’s Next

Seattle gained ground on the Astros who dropped two out of three against Oakland this week and the M’s now sit four games behind Houston in the AL West. Kansas City lost two of three to the Yankees while Minnesota took two of three against the Los Angeles Angels. Detroit won two of three against Colorado as well so the Mariners sit four games back of the Twins and 5 1/2 behind the Royals. Houston will head to LA for three games with the Angels beginning on Friday. Kansas City will visit Pittsburgh for three while Minnesota hosts Cincinnati for three. Detroit will have the big test as they host Baltimore for three while Boston goes to the Bronx for four with the Yankees.

Meanwhile for the Mariners (74-72), they stay home for a four-game series against the defending World Series champions in the Texas Rangers. Texas (70-76) enters the series coming off of being swept in a two-game series with Arizona. Since August 27th, Texas has a record of 10-5 and now are getting healthy with their rotation. Seattle will have to face Kumar Rocker as well as Jacob deGrom who makes his season debut on Friday. The Rangers are technically still alive as they sit eight games back of both the AL West and Wild Card.

• Game 1, Thursday 6:40pm- Kumar Rocker (MLB Debut) vs. Bryce Miller (11-8, 3.18 ERA)
• Game 2, Friday 7:10pm- Jacob deGrom (Season Debut) vs. Emerson Hancock* (3-4, 4.76 ERA)
• Game 3, Saturday 6:40pm- Max Scherzer (2-4, 3.89 ERA) vs. Logan Gilbert (7-11, 3.15 ERA)
• Game 4, Sunday 1:10pm- TBD vs. George Kirby (11-11, 3.77 ERA)

*= Projected Starter

elisportsnetwork.com