SAN DIEGO (AP) — J.P. Crawford homered on Stephen Kolek’s first pitch and Rowdy Tellez and Cal Raleigh each added a two-run shot for the Seattle Mariners, who beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 Friday night in the opening game of the inaugural Vedder Cup.

Seattle Mariners 5, San Diego Padres 1: Box score

Rookie Logan Evans (2-1) pitched six strong innings for the Mariners, who took a 1 1/2-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Padres came in trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game in the NL West.

J.P. Crawford launches 1st-pitch leadoff HR in return to lineup

The annual interleague series between the teams that share a spring training complex was informally known since 2011 as the Vedder Cup, a reference to Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Vedder, who is actually a Chicago Cubs fan, spent some formative years in San Diego before moving to Seattle and joining the fledgling band in 1990. The two teams formalized the competition in March, with the winner getting a trophy featuring a guitar provided by Vedder. Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

The teams play again in Seattle Aug. 25-27.

The Padres and Mariners will support EB Research Partnership, a charity co-founded by Eddie and Jill Vedder dedicated to funding research to discover treatments and cures for Epidermolysis Bullosa.

Crawford’s homer was his fourth. Tellez also connected to right with two outs in the fourth, with Raleigh aboard on a walk. It was his seventh. Raleigh homered to left, his 14th, after Julio Rodriguez singled leading off the sixth.

Evans, whose ERA was lowered by six runs on Thursday due to a scoring decision change, held the Padres to seven hits while striking out three and walking one. Only four Padres reached scoring position.

Kolek (2-1) was coming off his first career complete game in a 21-0 win at Colorado last Saturday. He allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings, with four strikeouts and one walk.

Key moment

Crawford set the tone with his 357-foot homer over the home run porch in the right field corner.

Key Stat

Crawford’s 14 leadoff homers are second in Mariners history behind Ichiro Suzuki’s 37.

Up next

Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (1-2, 6.91 ERA) and Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (5-2, 3.05) are scheduled to start Saturday night.

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Coming off a 1-5 homestand, the Seattle Mariners are set to embark on their most difficult stretch of season thus far.

After being swept by the Toronto Blue Jays and losing a three-game series against the New York Yankees, Seattle will play 10 straight road games from Friday through May 25. That road trip starts at 6:40 p.m. PT on Friday in Game 1 of a three-game set against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Mariners will follow that with a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox from May 19-21 at Rate Field, and will conclude the trip with a four-game series against the Houston Astros from May 22-25 at Minute Maid Park.

Entering Friday, the Mariners are 23-19 and have a half-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the American League West. During their 1-5 home stretch, they were outscored 36-16 and scored more than three runs just once.

On top of that, pitcher Bryce Miller joined fellow starters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

It’s hard to have an optimistic outlook on Seattle, especially with the daunting road trip. But it’s not time to hit the panic button yet.

Firstly, the Mariners have already been here this season. They started the season 3-7 after splitting a series against the Athletics, losing a series to the Detroit Tigers and getting swept by the San Francisco Giants. Seattle ended up winning nine consecutive series for the first time since 2001 in the immediate aftermath.

“We already have experience feeling this way, kind of like nothing’s really going your way,” Julio Rodriguez said after a 3-2 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. “But I think that this group does really well that. Just kind of finding a way, even if it’s hard. We’ve been here, we just got to continue to put one foot in front of the other and see what happens next game.”

Even if the Mariners offense doesn’t consistently return to the form they had during their series win streak, there’s hope the starting rotation can get back to the level it’s been accustomed to.

Kirby could be activated off the injured list during the road trip, and there’s optimism Miller’s stint on the IL will be minimal after he received a cortisone shot and an MRI revealed no structural damage.

Gilbert likely won’t be too far behind Kirby and Gilbert.

If the offense can weather the storm until the three make their return, then Seattle could be in a good position to go on a run for the rest of the first half. At that point, Luke Raley will likely be back in the mix from his strained oblique, and Victor Robles could be back around the All-Star break.

In the latest episode of “The Cal Raleigh Show” With Shannon Drayer, Raleigh reaffirmed the team’s mindset even with their recent struggles.

“We just got to keep hammering it home. … It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s not about trying to do more or trying to do something different. It’s just continuing to lean on what we’ve talked about and the identity of who we are and just trying to always, consistently be that. Especially when things aren’t going your way, or you start wavering a little bit, just always trying to go back to that identity.”

All the Mariners have to do is not fall apart. The AL West has been extremely competitive in the first quarter of the season. Every team, with the exception of the fifth-place Los Angeles Angels, has had solid stretches. A 4-6 or 5-5 road trip would be a success for Seattle. Anything else would be a bonus.

We’ll see how they respond beginning Friday. After all, they’ve been here before.

FORMER MARINERS BROADCASTER HIGHLIGHTS FORMER COLLEAGUES: Former Mariners and current New York Yankees broadcaster Dave Sims posted photos on “X” with his former co-workers after a series between the two teams. CLICK HERE

PITCHING MATCHUPS FOR SERIES BETWEEN MARINERS, PADRES: The two sides will play the first part of the Eddie Vedder Cup and the Mariners will have tough pitching matchups in front of them. CLICK HERE

J.P. CRAWFORD DAY-TO-DAY AFTER MISSING SERIES FINALE: The Mariners longest-tenured position player missed the team’s series finale against the New York Yankees on Wednesday with shoulder tightness. CLICK HERE

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Nearly a decade since its closure, SeaPort Airlines is returning to the skies to offer commuter flights between Seattle and Portland. 

Starting next week, the airline will provide daily service between Boeing Field in Seattle and Portland International Airport, according to The Seattle Times. 

SeaPort will be the only commercial airline offering flights from Boeing Field to Portland. Round-trip fares for the new service will begin at $279.

SeaPort Airlines returns with Portland commuter flights

The relaunched service will utilize nine-seat Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, with departures scheduled every 45 minutes. Unlike traditional commercial routes that depart from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, these flights will operate out of Boeing Field. Arrivals in Portland will take place at the Atlantic Aviation campus, a short distance from the main terminal.

SeaPort Airlines was originally co-founded by Rob Craford in 2008. The company had originally expanded into rural markets before declaring bankruptcy in 2016. That year, the Federal Aviation Administration had also proposed a $500,000 fine for alleged maintenance violations.

The new SeaPort fleet includes four aircraft from Connecticut, Colorado, New Zealand, and other locations. 

Read more of Jonah Oaklief’s stories here.