The Seattle Mariners absolutely needed to slam the brakes on Oakland’s momentum, and thanks to Bryan Woo’s career-best performance, they did just that. Our M’s avoided a four-game sweep at home, salvaging the final matchup with a crisp 2-0 victory behind a dominant one-hit shutout. That’s how you respond to adversity, Emerald City!
Woo Was Dealing, Early and Often
Woo was locked in from the jump. He and A’s starter Gage Jump traded three scoreless innings to kick things off, a classic pitching duel that had everyone at T-Mobile Park on edge. Our guy Woo was straight-up dealing, not allowing a single baserunner the first time through the A’s lineup. Seriously, he was electric. Cal Raleigh, our rock behind the plate, almost got us on the board early in the bottom of the first, but his home run shot hooked just foul. The A’s finally broke through for their first hit in the fourth inning, a single by Henry Bolte, but they couldn’t do anything with it. Lawrence Butler grounded out, stranding Bolte at second, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
M’s Breakthrough and Woo’s Masterpiece
The bottom of the fourth? That’s when the dam broke for our boys! Jump ran into a wall, allowing five straight singles to open the inning. Cal Raleigh delivered an RBI single, followed by another clutch RBI single from JP Crawford, and just like that, the Mariners had a 2-0 lead! Jump showed some grit, striking out the next three guys to limit the damage, but it took him over 40 pitches to get out of it, ending his day. The A’s brought in Seth Johnson, who looked good, striking out the side in the fifth and finishing with four strikeouts over two scoreless innings. Then Scott Blewett and Yunior Tur chipped in with scoreless innings too, keeping the deficit at two. But none of that mattered because Woo was still out there, just mowing them down. He completed a career-high eight scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out nine and getting nine groundouts. Oakland’s hitters just couldn’t solve him, consistently swinging at early-count pitches and producing a ton of soft-contact outs against a pitcher they’ve struggled with since he broke into the majors. And to seal the deal? Our closer, Andrés Muñoz, secured his 25th save of the season, retiring the A’s in order in the ninth to finish off the one-hit shutout.
That’s the kind of gritty win that can light a fire under a team. It’s a tough pill for the A’s, who drop to 30 games below .500, but they’re off to face the Toronto Blue Jays with Jacob Lopez on the mound. For the M’s, this victory shows exactly what we’re capable of when our pitching is on point. Let’s build on this, Seattle!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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