Seattle Mariners

Former MLB player Jesús Montero, who was once referred to by New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman as “the best player I’ve traded,” died Sunday from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this month. He was 35.

The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League reported Montero’s passing on social media, referring to the power-hitting catcher, designated hitter and first baseman as someone with “a powerful bat, an unforgettable presence, a heart that loved this game.”

“Thank you for every at-bat, every home run, every day you proudly defended our colors,” the league wrote in Spanish on Instagram. “Rest in peace, Jesús. Your legacy lives on in every fan who ever celebrated with you.”

In addition to six seasons with the Venezuelan league, Montero played five major league seasons, one with the Yankees and four with the Seattle Mariners. Both teams, as well as MLB, mourned Montero with posts on X.

Born in Guacara, Venezuela, Montero was 16 when he was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2006. He worked his way through the minor leagues, twice appearing in the All-Star Futures game, and made his MLB debut late in the 2011 season. In 61 at-bats over 18 games that September, Montero had a batting average of .328 and OPS of .996 with four home runs and 12 RBIs.

That offseason, Montero was traded to Seattle as part of a blockbuster package deal that sent pitcher Michael Pineda to New York.

“He may very well be the best player I’ve traded,” Cashman told reporters at the time. “He’s that good. He’s a middle-of-the-lineup type bat.”

Montero played 208 games for the Mariners, hitting 24 home runs with 92 RBIs. His time with the organization was marred by struggles with his weight and a 50-game performance-enhancing drug ban in 2013, as he was among several players disciplined by MLB for their relationship to Biogenesis of America.

In 2016, Montero played in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system and received another 50-game suspension following the season after testing positive for banned stimulant dimethylbutylamine. He played part of the 2017 season in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, then spent several more years playing baseball in Mexico and Venezuela before retiring in 2021.

Montero reportedly crashed his motorcycle into a truck Oct. 4 and had been hospitalized in critical condition since then. Authorities said he was unable to recover from multiple injuries.

Taneth Gimenez — Montero’s ex-wife and mother of their two children, Loren and Jesús — has posted several tributes to her former husband on her Instagram Story since his passing.

“May the Lord receive you in your glory,” she wrote in Spanish on one post. “Thank you for giving me the greatest gift I have, my children.”

She added in another, also in Spanish: “I keep the good times tattooed on my soul.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SEATTLE — Bryan Woo struck out a career-high 13, J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead homer in the fourth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 5-3 on Saturday night to stay tied with Houston atop the American League West with their eighth straight win.

Matt Brash worked the ninth inning for his fourth save, yielding a solo home run to Taylor Ward.

Woo (14-7) pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits while walking one. He has pitched five innings or more in 31 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the AL.

Woo surrendered Jo Adell’s 36th homer and an RBI single by Bryce Teodosio in the second inning, then retired the next 13 batters he faced. The Angels struck out 16 times total.

Seattle scored early against Angels starter Mitch Farris (1-1), who lasted only four innings, yielding five runs on five hits, walking four and striking out seven. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run double in the first, and Crawford hit his 10th homer of the year in the fourth.

Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery was away for a funeral so Ryan Goins was the acting manager for Saturday’s game.

Seattle holds the second AL wild-card spot in a tie with the Boston Red Sox.

Key moment: Josh Naylor worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Chase Silseth in the fifth, concluding with a two-run single to extend Seattle’s lead 5-2.

Key stat: Polanco’s two-run double in the first inning was his eighth straight game with an extra base hit. It’s the longest streak by a Mariner this season.

Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-9, 4.58) faces Seattle RHP George Kirby (8-7, 4.56) Sunday in the series finale.

Before MLB’s newest trophy was offered up as the prize in a competition between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, it had to pass through the hands of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

The custom Fender Telecaster guitar, named the Vedder Cup, is said to have been played by its namesake for “about an hour” before it was shipped off to T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

“He gave it a good run through,” George Webb, Pearl Jam’s equipment manager, told the Seattle Times on Monday. “He always likes to feel like he puts a little energy, you know, spiritual energy, into an instrument. Not just hand off something that’s brand-new, never-touched kind of thing. So yeah, jammed on it for about an hour. Had a good time.”

The trophy features many nods from the 60-year-old musician, including a hand-drawn “cresting wave” illustration and an arrow and mod symbol — an allusion to Vedder’s tribute to the Who on his personal guitar. On the back, the Padres and Mariners logos appear alongside text hand-written by the singer and guitarist: “The Vedder Cup Established 2025 by Major League Baseball.”

The Vedder Cup, a guitar shown off Monday by Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, will go each year to the winner of the full-season series between the Mariners and the San Diego Padres.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

It also contains a logo from EB Research Partnership, a nonprofit co-founded by Vedder and his wife, Jill, after a childhood friend’s son was born with the painful skin condition epidermolysis bullosa. The nonprofit funds research on the disease.

The cup is intended to bring “meaningful awareness” to the rare disorder, Mariners Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Trevor Gooby said in a statement in March, when the longtime rivalry became official.

“We can’t wait to see this rivalry series grow and look forward to battling the Mariners for the Vedder Cup,” Padres Chief Executive Erik Greupner added.

The rivalry, such as it is, arose from forces both real and manufactured, apparently. Vedder has strong ties to both cities, having grown up in San Diego, then moved to Seattle to start Pearl Jam with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament — hence, the “Vedder” Cup.

Also, upon the introduction of interleague play in the late ’90s, MLB looked for “natural” rivalries between teams like the Padres and Mariners. This year, the league canonized the rivalry, which is said to have begun as geographic, given both teams’ West Coast homes, Reuters reports.

The two teams have met almost annually since 1997. In the informal all-time series, Seattle currently leads 68-63. Additionally, they share a training complex in Peoria, Ariz.

Some fans are still left with questions as to why the competition has turned official, with one claiming on Reddit that “padres and mariners fans literally give no s— about each other.”

Still, they conceded it is “likely the most meaningless and yet kinda fun thing in MLB.”

The trophy was in the spotlight Monday when the teams met for the fourth time this season. The Mariners notched a 9-6 victory over the Padres, taking the season series after three previous wins in San Diego. The Padres beat the Mariners Tuesday, 7-6, and the final game is Wednesday, but the contest has already been decided. Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ switch-hitting, homer-hammering catcher, known as “Big Dumper,” hoisted and played the trophy in celebration Monday night.

The name and logo for the cup were first shown off in March, but its final design wasn’t finished until the weeks leading up to the fixture.

“Typically on a custom build like this it will take us six months or so to source the wood, get everything mapped out ready to go and take our time to vet the process, apply the graphics, do some test runs,” Chase Paul, director of product development for Fender, told the Seattle Times. “On this we just kind of headed into it in parallel with testing and the production version at the same time, and kind of getting it ready to go.”

In all, it took Fender eight or nine weeks to get the work done, which Paul called a “really incredible effort by the team in the shop.”

Naturally, Vedder doesn’t want the trophy guitar to sit on a shelf for the next year while it’s in the Mariners’ possession. According to Webb, “He wants it to be played.”

“That’s his attitude with everything. It’s a living, breathing instrument. It sounds great,” he added.

As an added bonus to fans, the league announced it would give away limited-edition Vedder Cup hats during the last 2025 game between the two on Wednesday.

To no surprise, the exclusive ticket package that included the hats has sold out.

Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in a four-run fifth inning to reach 1,000 career RBIs, and the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Sunday.

Kyle Hendricks (6-7) gave up one run on two hits over six-plus innings and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series.

Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 41st home run for the Mariners.

The Angels broke a scoreless tie when Kevin Newman’s grounder brought home Travis d’Arnaud in the fifth. Luis Rengifo then scored on Logan Gilbert’s wild pitch.

Trout crushed a 443-foot drive to center field off Gilbert to give him 1,001 RBIs. It was his 397th career homer and 19th this season.

Raleigh connected against Hendricks in the seventh, his second home run in two nights and fourth this year against Los Angeles.

Hendricks, who had one walk and three strikeouts, won for the first time since June 17.

Gilbert (3-4) gave up four runs and three hits over five innings with seven strikeouts.

Key moment: Angels center fielder Jo Adell kept Seattle off the scoreboard in the sixth when he reached above the wall to take away a home run from J.P. Crawford.

Key stat: Trout became the third player to get his first 1,000 RBIs entirely in an Angels uniform, following Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon.

Up next: Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (3-9, 6.03) is expected to start Monday against Texas.

Cal Raleigh became the first player to hit 40 homers this season with a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 7-2 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Raleigh hammered a 97-mph fastball from José Fermin 416 feet into the right-field bleachers for his second homer in eight games since winning the Home Run Derby.

Julio Rodríguez hit his fourth solo homer in three games at Angel Stadium, and Randy Arozarena also connected for the Mariners (56-49).

George Kirby struck out nine over six difficult innings of five-hit ball to earn his fourth win in five starts despite not matching his 14-strikeout performance at Angel Stadium last month. Kirby fanned Luis Rengifo on a slider with the bases loaded to end the sixth.

Taylor Ward hit his 24th homer for the Angels (50-55), who have lost five of six.

Angels star Mike Trout walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Tyler Anderson yielded six hits and two runs while pitching inefficiently into the fifth. The veteran left-hander and Angels trade candidate has a 5.66 ERA in his last four starts.

Rodríguez connected in the third, adding his 18th homer of the season to his solo shot Thursday and two more in the Mariners’ loss Friday.

Arozarena led off the fourth with his 20th homer, reaching the milestone for the fifth consecutive season.

Yoán Moncada, another Angels trade candidate, left in pain after Kirby’s fastball hit him in the hand. X-rays were negative.

Raleigh is the seventh catcher in major league history to hit 40 homers in a season. It’s been done nine times overall — twice by Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza.

Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena and Jorge Polanco homered, Logan Evans gave up one run in five innings, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 4-2 on Thursday night.

Rodríguez, who stole third base in the first inning, has 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. The 24-year-old is the first player in MLB history with at least 15 homers and 20-plus stolen bases in each of their first four seasons.

Evans (4-3), a 24-year-old rookie, allowed three hits and walked three with three strikeouts. Andrés Muñoz pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.

Rodríguez hit a solo shot off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) and Arozarena added a two-run homer to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Mike Trout doubled and then scored when Nolan Schanuel followed with a single in the first for the Angels. Zach Neto added an RBI single in the seventh.

The Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from Arizona earlier Thursday, ahead of the trade deadline on July 31.

Key moment: Trout drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two out in the ninth before Muñoz got Schanuel to line out to end the game.

Key stat: Trout has 437 total bases and 146 runs scored in his career against Seattle, both of which are records. Rafael Palmeiro and Rickey Henderson hold the previous marks of 435 total bases and 145 runs, respectively.

Up next: Seattle’s Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against José Soriano (7-7, 3.73) in the second of a four-game series.

George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018, and he matched Miami’s Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season.

Donovan Solano drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena had an early RBI double among his three hits as the Mariners avoided a series sweep with their fourth win in 14 games.

Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games.

Andrés Muñoz earned his 18th save, returning from a week off and rebounding from back-to-back blown save opportunities in which he allowed his first earned runs of the entire season.

Muñoz walked Jorge Soler leading off the ninth, but struck out Mike Trout to end it.

Tyler Anderson (2-3) yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of his ninth consecutive winless appearance.

Arozarena hit a 345-foot single in the fifth when he failed to hustle out of the box, but he stole second and scored on Jorge Polanco’s two-out single. Solano added another RBI single to chase Anderson.

Key moment: Trout was the Angels’ first baserunner with a two-out single, and Ward immediately followed with his 18th homer. Kirby regrouped and struck out Chris Taylor with a perfect slider on the corner.

Key stat: Trout tied Rafael Palmeiro’s major league record of 435 total bases against Seattle before scoring his 145th run against the Mariners to tie Rickey Henderson for that career record.

Up next: Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the Big A mound Monday night against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19) pitches for the Mariners at Arizona.

When Angels closer Kenley Jansen induced a groundout from J.P. Crawford to end Friday night’s contest, he made sure to keep the ball.

In the Angels’ clubhouse after a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners, Jansen handed the ball to Kyle Hendricks. It was Hendricks’ to keep after he earned his 100th career victory.

Hendricks didn’t pitch his best game. The right-hander gave up eight hits and four earned runs along with two strikeouts and two walks over six innings. Still, his milestone capped one of the Angels’ better wins — an all-around team effort spearheaded by veteran players.

“I hate it being about me, so I appreciated keeping [the postgame celebration] short,” said Hendricks, who won 97 of his 100 games with the Chicago Cubs. [Manager Ron Washington] just said a couple words, and the guys pointed out Kenley keeping the last ball for me, handing it over. Just really cool and hugs all around.”

Clyde Wright, ninth on the Angels’ all-time wins list and Hendricks’ pitching coach during his teenage years in South Orange County, was at Angel Stadium on Friday. Wright, who ended his career with 100 wins, congratulated Hendricks in the clubhouse.

“I told him, I only took 23 years after our first lesson — 12-year-old, first lesson — and now, finally tied him,” Hendricks said.

Hendricks said he has built a solid bond with battery mate Travis d’Arnaud in recent starts.

“Really catching a groove, really learned me, and it’s just making things so much easier for me,” Hendricks said of d’Arnaud. “So I can’t thank him enough.”

Being part of Hendricks’ 100th win was “very special” for d’Arnaud, who also caught Charlie Morton’s 100th win with Atlanta in 2021.

“I’m very thankful and grateful that I was a part of it, and not only to be a part of it behind the plate, but also to help contribute at the plate,” d’Arnaud said.

Offensively, it was one of the newest Angels who helped lead them to victory.

Chris Taylor hadn’t done much at the plate since the Angels signed him nearly two weeks ago. Friday night at Angel Stadium, the former Dodgers utilityman put together his best game for the Angels so far — going two for three with a tying RBI double in his first multi-hit performance of the season (his first in the regular season since Sept. 28).

“That’s obviously the best game I’ve had in a minute,” Taylor said. “Just to hit the ball hard and drive in a run — do some things to help a team win, felt good.”

Angels second baseman Chris Taylor throws to first base after forcing out a Mariners runner at second in the first inning Friday.

(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)

Taylor also scored the decisive run in the fifth inning on a single from Nolan Schanuel. Even Taylor’s one out was loud. In the bottom of the sixth, Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez robbed Taylor of a two-run home run to dead center field.

In his first plate appearance in the third, Taylor scored on a single from Zach Neto to tie the score 1-1. After the Mariners retook the lead in the fourth, d’Arnaud tied the game again with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

The Angels put together one of their better performances at the plate. They combined for seven hits and struck out just seven times. With their third win in four games, the Angels (29-33) are three games back of second-place Seattle (32-30) and 5½ games behind AL West-leading Houston (35-28).

Ryan Zeferjahn and Reid Detmers pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively, and Jansen tossed a scoreless ninth for his 13th save. Detmers hasn’t given up a run — across eight appearances — since May 17.

For Washington, Hendricks getting his 100th win was the cherry on top of a win over a division rival.

“I talk about two things, presence and performance,” Washington said. “[Hendricks’] presence is always around. And when he’s performing, you see him giving everything he has. Well deserved.”