Bryan Woo helped Mariners score a 3-0 win over the Orioles on Thursday afternoon, throwing seven-plus scoreless innings with nine strikeouts, three hits allowed and one walk. The victory gave the Mariners the rubber game and the season series, and it came after Woo had been hit hard by the same club last Thursday in Baltimore.
Bryan Woo resets the strike zone
Woo said the difference started with getting ahead. “Conditions were different, didn’t have a great feel for the ball in Baltimore, just fell into a lot of hitters counts,” he said. “So I wanted to make sure that I came out and got ahead, was in the spots that I wanted to be in, and do what I wanted to do from there.”
He did exactly that. Woo threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 25 hitters he faced and had only 80 pitches through seven innings, a much cleaner rhythm than last Thursday in Baltimore, when he allowed seven runs over five innings against the Orioles.
Cole Young and Colt Emerson strike first
The Mariners’ three-run bottom of the first gave Woo immediate support. Josh Naylor singled into right-center, Leody Taveras made an ill-fated decision to field the ball with his bare hand, and Naylor reached second. Dominic Canzone then drew a walk before Cole Young lined an opposite-field double down the left field line to score Naylor.
Colt Emerson followed with a base hit through the right side to bring home two more runs. That was enough to turn the game over to Woo, who kept the Orioles from cutting into the lead while the Mariners spent the afternoon protecting a first-inning edge.
Eduard Bazardo and Andrés Muñoz finish
Woo handed the game to Eduard Bazardo with the lead intact and 89 pitches on the board. Bazardo ended the Orioles’ threat in the eighth inning, and Andrés Muñoz took the save opportunity in the ninth.
Muñoz allowed a couple of baserunners, with Gunnar Henderson drawing a leadoff walk, but he shut the door. Leody Taveras struck out with two outs to end it, and the Orioles finished scoreless while the Mariners closed out a series win built on Woo’s sharper command and a three-run first.
