Woo Strong Early, Mariners Falter Late in Extra-Innings Heartbreaker to Guardians

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Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo (22) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images [/caption]

The Seattle Mariners entered Saturday night’s contest like one of your old roommates - still searching for singles. They checked that box, but it still wasn’t enough.

After a strong five-plus from Bryan Woo, Cleveland’s lineup scratched across three runs late at T-Mobile Park. Despite a late comeback in the ninth, the Mariners folded in extra innings as the Guardians won 6-5.  

Woo strong but two-out rally in sixth spoils stellar start

Mariners starter Bryan Woo allowed just one baserunner through his first four innings of work, pumping his elite fastball time and time again: 59 of his 83 pitches on Saturday were the four-seamer, which stayed in the top half of the zone for five frames.

A leadoff walk to Brayan Rocchio in the sixth was an ominous sign, however. Woo had been so reliant on his heater that when he started to lose a little control over it, things became dicey fast. Even after getting the next two batters out, he faced perennial All-Star José Ramírez. The seven-time All-Star seared a double down the line to score Rocchio, cutting Seattle’s lead to 2-1, and Kyle Manzardo scored Ramírez on a single to tie the game.

Woo finished six innings with two earned runs and nine strikeouts with just one walk and no homers, which most consider a solid night of work.

Offense limps again early; even with more singles

Seattle entered the game having hit nothing but extra-base hits in their first two games. Victor Robles lined a double to score Brendan Donovan in the bottom of the second. It looked like the Mariners had something cooking in the third inning, after Cal Raleigh (gasp) singled and then (gasp) stole second base followed by a Julio Rodríguez walk. But the rally was killed (the night’s enduring theme) after Josh Naylor struck out to end the inning. Seattle had a big opportunity in the fourth, with a run coming in on a wild pitch and a walk. But could not get anything else going, settling for a meager 2-0 lead. With such little room for reliever error, those missed opportunities would prove costly later.

Overall, the Mariners went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, a measly .143.

Guardians out-clutch the Mariners late

After Woo exited, Cleveland’s relievers shut the door, squelching any late Mariners rally. Two two-out walks by Eduard Bazardo in the seventh set the table for Steven Kwan to single home the go-ahead run for Cleveland. The bottom end of the Seattle bullpen in Casey Legumina and Cole Wilcox did their jobs without issue in the top half of the eighth and ninth, but the pressure by that point was on the bats.

Five Guardians relievers combined for 5 ⅓ shutout innings, allowing just three hits - but Seattle was not without opportunities. They got multiple baserunners in both the sixth and seventh innings that led to nothing. Luke Raley worked a one-out walk in the eighth, which was quickly erased by Leo Rivas grounding into a double play.

Cole Young led off the ninth against ace closer Cade Smith with a double, sparking hope once again, but Smith buckled down to strike out the next two batters. Down to their last strike with a runner on second, Rodríguez lined a base hit into right-center to score Young and tie the game.

That sent the game into extras, but the excitement at T-Mobile Park from the ninth-inning comeback was quickly extinguished. Cleveland took the lead on the first pitch of the 10th inning after a throwing error by Brendan Donovan, who unexpectedly chucked a sac bunt into the Bermuda Triangle. Chase DeLauter promptly continued torturing the Mariners with a two-run homer, his fourth in this series, pushing the Cleveland lead to 6-3.

Luke Raley pushed the Mariners closer in the 10th, with a two-run homer off of Connor Brogdon. However, the Mariners failed to continue the rally and fell short in 10 as their erstwhile ninth inning hero in Young chased a changeup off the plate away.

On Deck

The Mariners look to earn a split in the four-game set against Cleveland while being featured on Peacock’s Sunday Night Baseball, Sunday at 4:20 p.m. Pacific. The Mariners turn to Emerson Hancock to seek the series split, opposed by Slade Cecconi on the bump for the Guardians.