Mariners rout A’s 8-1, but Bryan Woo exits during first start of season

The warmth of Friday afternoon turned into a perfectly pleasant evening. Even with the less-than popular Oakland A’s in town, T-Mobile Park was packed with a boisterous crowd that had survived presidential traffic and was fueled by a heavy dose of natural vitamin D.

And the Mariners? Well, their much-criticize collection of hitters were enjoying the warmth, ripping extra base-hits around the park and scoring runs, including five in the bottom of the fourth of a previously scoreless game.

But the celebratory tenor of the Mariners’ 8-1 victory over the A’s was initially dampened when talented right-hander Bryan Woo, who was making his first of the season, left the game with head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson in the very next inning.

“You know when he came out there, fifth inning, and it was a long inning as we put the runs up before that, he was just a little tight,” manager Scott Servais said of Woo’s forearm. “It wasn’t loose. And there is no point in pushing it right now. I think he’s going to be fine. It’s won’t be an issue. He just sat down for a long time. Most guys have a routine during the long innings down there. He needs to work on his.”

It’s something Woo dealt with during his rehab stint.

“It’s been kind of like a theme throughout the rehab process,” he said. “If I ever have like long innings or something like that, it’s just kind of finding ways to get it going again. It’s pretty normal from what I’ve been experiencing throughout the last couple weeks.”

When Woo threw his 62^nd pitch of the outing — an 89-mph slider — he grimaced slightly after watching Tyler Soderstrom pop it up into foul territory. Cal Raleigh didn’t see Luis Urias make a nice catch in foul territory. He was focused on his starter. He saw Woo flex his hand and then make a quick stretch of his forearm.

Raleigh motioned to the dugout and Pete Woodworth went to the mound. The rest of the infield joined them. Servais then came out and Torgerson then joined the convention on the mound.  

After a discussion where it looked as if Woo was trying to convince everyone he could to stay in the game, he was removed and walked off the field with Torgerson.

“Yeah, I wanted to,” Woo said. “But ‘Skip’ was just kind of like, ‘it’s a long season. No need to push it right not and be smart. If you don’t feel 100% confident to push through right now, then it’s not a big deal and let’s just be smart about it.'”

When the Mariners drafted Woo in 2021, he had undergone Tommy John surgery on his elbow. So the Mariners have always been very careful with his health.

His final line: 4 1/3 scoreless innings pitched, one hit allowed with a walk and three strikeouts.

He looked strong in the first three innings, showing plenty of velocity from his four-seam and movement with his two-seam fastball.

About five days before the 2024 season was set to begin, Woo felt some discomfort in his elbow during his last bullpen session of the spring and the Mariners put him on the injured list with elbow inflammation. It left him excited and a little nervous leading up to his start.

“You try to treat it like any normal game, but you know that it’s not,” he said. “Obviously that first inning was a little bit all over the place and I kind of tried to settle in after that. It feels great to be back here seeing everybody and obviously it was a gorgeous day. It’s hard not to soak it all in and enjoy it especially before the game. You try to be grateful to be back on the field.”

With Woo cruising through the first four innings, allowing just the two base runners, the Mariners offense got going when the lineup faced A’s starter Paul Blackburn for the second time in the game.

Mitch Haniger led off with a walk and Raleigh also worked to get the inning going in the right direction. With one out, Luke Raley laced a line drive off the wall in left field. It missed being a home run by less than a foot. Raley had to settle for an RBI double. Ty France, who had just two hits in his last 18 plate appearances, ripped a sinker into the left-field corner for a two-run double.

Dylan Moore, who had a career night with three hits and five RBI, punctuated the inning by yanking a hanging slider over the all and just inside the left field foul pole for a two-run homer and a 5-0 lead.  

“It’s exactly what we talked about pregame,” Servais said. “Blackburn, when he’s rolling really well, he lives right on the edges. And if you chase him, it’s going to be a long night and he’ll get deep into the game. But if you’re really disciplined and you stick to the plan, you’ll get yourself in good hitting counts. He doesn’t walk a lot of guys because he’s usually really good at it. Tonight our guys took some close pitches and then created that inning with a couple of walks.”

The Mariners tacked on two more runs in the sixth in a similar fashion to the fourth. Both Haniger and Raleigh reached base to start the inning with back-to-back singles. Mitch Garver loaded the bass with a walk. With two outs, Moore singled to left to score two more runs.

“I think Dylan Moore’s season really started in spring training and it starts by his swing decisions,” Servais said. “He swings at the right pitches. There used to be holes in his swing where you could attack him. He’s cleaned up a lot of that.”

Moore set a career-high with RBI in the seventh inning, looping a single to left to score Raley again and make it 8-0.

“I take a lot of pride in being on time for the fastball and hitting it hard,” he said. “And I know that they know that. So it’s kind of a battle between staying and keeping my success with the fastball, but then also being able to adjust to the pitches that are in the zone. And being able to do damage on them.”

Meanwhile, relievers Trent Thornton, Kirby Snead, Cody Bolton and Austin Voth carried the final 4 2/3 innings. They couldn’t quite complete the combined shutout with the A’s picking up a run off Voth in the ninth.

“A great way to start the homestand,” Servais said. “It was really a complete game. We pitched well. We had guys on base and we got timely hits, really good night offensively.”