Seattle Mariners Claim Inaugural Vedder Cup in 9-6 Win Against San Diego Padres

Before the Mariners became the holders of the Vedder Cup (named after vocalist/guitarist Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame), the M's had to claw their way back from an early deficit.

San Diego broke out to a 4-1 lead through the top of the second. All four runs came on three homers in the second inning.

The lone run to that point for Seattle was a solo home run hit by cather Cal Raleigh in the bottom of the first. His homer gave him a major league-leading 50 on the season. He became the only player in franchise history aside from Ken Griffey Jr. to hit 50 or more home runs in a season.

"It doesn't seem real," Raleigh said in a postgame interview. "I mean 50 home runs, it's kind of a crazy number to think of. It's kind of a big number just in general. I remember thinking back, I thought I was a cool player when I hit five when I was young, in high school or something. You hit five, you had all this power in the world. It's crazy."

Mariners starting Bryce Miller allowed respective solo shots to Padres left fielder Gavin Sheets and second baseman Jake Cronenworth, and a two-run homer to right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr in the top of the second.

Miller was able to hunker down after the second and put up zeroes in the third, fourth and fifth. He finished with four strikeouts, one walk and four earned runs allowed on six hits (three home runs) in five innings pitched.

After the trio of home runs, Miller adjusted and started throwing the splitter to get ahead in counts. His final two strikeouts were in the top of the third, both with the splitter, and he faced the minimum in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.

"Happy we were able to make an adjustment moving forward," Miller said after the game. "Obviously, I threw a lot of splitters after (the second) and was able to give us a chance. Looked like early we were swinging the bat well, so I knew I had to keep them there and not give up anymore. ... It's a lot easier when we put nine (runs) on the board."

By limiting the damage to just the second inning, Seattle was able to pull ahead. Second baseman Jorge Polanco got two runs back in the bottom of the second with a homer to left field.

With no outs, shortstop J.P. Crawford grounded into a bases-loaded double play that scored first baseman Josh Naylor in the bottom of the fourth, which tied the game 4-4.

In the fifth inning, Naylor pulled the Mariners in front with an RBI single, Polanco added on to his 3-for-4 day with a two-RBI double, and Crawford brought another two home with a bloop single to center field. After the fifth, Seattle held a 9-4 lead.

San Diego scored its final two runs of the game off the Mariners bullpen. Padres center fielder Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh and pinch hitter Will Wagner scored on a groundout hit by first baseman Luis Arraez in the top of the ninth.

"Really good way to start the series," M's manager Dan Wilson said after the game. "A lot of really positive things tonight. ... That fifth inning was big. Getting the bases loaded and being able to score runs, (Polanco) with a huge night there, big knock. Just a couple of big hits there to really bust it open. ... Like we've talked about before, when you can hit home runs and you can score more conventionally, I think that's a good sign."

Seattle improved to 71-61 with the victory and gained half a game on the idle Houston Astros in the American League West. The Mariners trail the Astros by 1.5 games.

With the Vedder Cup trophy (guitar) secured, the Mariners will try and secure their second straight series win in Game 2 against San Diego at 6:40 p.m. PT on Tuesday.

Luis Castillo will start for Seattle and Dylan Cease will start for the Padres.