J.P. Crawford didn’t waste any time making an impact in his return to the Seattle Mariners’ lineup.
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After being scratched from Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees due to shoulder tightness, Crawford homered on the very first pitch of Friday’s Vedder Cup opener against the San Diego Padres. Crawford jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Stephen Kolek and pulled it into Petco Park’s right-field seats for a 357-foot leadoff blast, giving Seattle a quick 1-0 lead over its interleague rival.
It was the 14th leadoff homer of Crawford’s career, including his second this month. He hit a leadoff shot against the Texas Rangers on May 3.
It continued a busy week for Crawford, who hit an 11th-inning walkoff single on Tuesday night to give the Mariners a 2-1 win over the Yankees. Crawford is slashing .275/.380/.387 this season, with four home runs and four doubles. He entered the night ranked third in on-base percentage among qualified MLB shortstops.
Crawford’s homer was the first run of the season allowed by Kolek, a former Mariners prospect who spent three seasons in Seattle’s farm system before San Diego selected him from the Mariners in the 2023 Rule 5 draft.
After spending all of last season in the Padres’ bullpen, Kolek was called up from Triple-A El Paso earlier this month. He threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his first-ever MLB start on May 4 and then tossed a five-hit shutout against the Colorado Rockies on May 10.
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