Bryan Woo delivers gem as Mariners grab series win vs. Orioles

SEATTLE — Even after wins, Bryan Woo can be somewhat hyper critical of his performance. His standards often exceed the goals of other pitchers.

After losses, including an awful performance in his most recent outing in Baltimore, Woo’s frustration over his failures on the mound can often result in a self-loathing that borders on unhealthy.

Achieving greatness rarely comes with ease or comfort, and Woo isn’t wired to settle for less.

But a return home provided a much-needed reset in so many ways for him, including a healthy reminder of life lived outside of baseball.

On an impossibly bright Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, Woo delivered one of his best outings of the season, pitching seven scoreless innings against the team that scored seven runs off him six days prior, leading the Mariners to a 3-0 victory over the Orioles and a series win.

It was the fourth time this season Mariners have shut out an opponent, while it was the first time this season Baltimore was held scoreless in a game.

“A really nice way to end the series,” manager Dan Wilson said, “This was a good one to get.”

The Mariners won their first series against the Orioles since June of 2022 and did so with Luke Raley and Randy Arozarena not playing a single game, Josh Naylor missing two of the games and Julio Rodriguez missing time.

“We were banged up, no question,” Wilson said. “We’ve had some injuries over the last week, but it doesn’t do any good to focus on that. We focused on winning the series. Guys stepped up, Bryan Woo stepped up. We saw big hits on offense and great defense behind Bryan. That’s the team stepping up in a situation where we needed it to. That’s what the fight in there is all about.”

A week ago, Woo did the opposite of stepping up at Camden Yards, giving up seven runs on seven hits in five innings. And he didn’t have much good to say about himself.

“I’m getting pretty tired of trying to come up with reasons or excuses or superlatives,” Woo said after the loss. “I’m just tired of sucking. It is what it is. I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t have the answers. I’m looking for them.”

Sometimes answers come in unforeseen situations from unexpected people.

Just 24 hours earlier, Woo hosted a pair of young cancer patients from Seattle Children’s Hospital. Charlotte Malone, 11, and Cooper Anderson, 12, along with their families came to T-Mobile Park with gifts for Woo.

Before the season, Woo had his reps at Apex send three pairs of his Adidas cleats to Seattle Children’s with the goal of having patients put custom designs on them in any way — a creative outlet of sorts to break up the monotony of treatment and recovery.

He broke out one of three pairs that were returned to him for Thursday’s outing.

The entire interaction offered some needed perspective. His recent troubles on the mound felt small by comparison.

“Absolutely, you hit the nail on the head,” he said. “You fall into just the day after day, and the monotony of a long season. You get caught up in your own crap — good, bad or whatever, how the team’s doing, and how you feel. But stuff like that just gives you a whole different perspective on what’s really important.”

Woo’s voice cracked with emotion a little as he talked about the time spent with the two children and their families.

“Even after an outing like today, or any good outing, you think that it’s going to give you this feeling of fulfillment, or like purpose,” he said. “But I don’t think I’ve ever felt more fulfilled as a baseball player than I did after that meeting yesterday.”

He was reminded that his impact on others has nothing to do with his results on the mound.

“You can still have a positive impact on people around you, even when you don’t really know it, or you don’t know the people,” he said. “You have the opportunity and the platform to impact lives like that. I’m not giving them any money to help them with their treatment. I’m not solving anything. But to just give them some sort of breakup in their day, something that makes their lives just a little bit better and to see the smiles on their faces and their families, that meant a lot to me.”

Woo was ruthlessly efficient on the mound. He attacked early and was nearly untouchable through seven innings, allowing just two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts on just 80 pitches. In his last four starts at T-Mobile Park, he’s pitched at least six innings each game without allowing a run.

“You learn obviously from the last game, but it was, I’d say, it was 100 percent what I wanted to do and the adjustments that I wanted to make,” Woo said.

One of those adjustments was using his whole arsenal. He stressed that in his pregame meeting with pitching coach Pete Woodworth and catcher Mitch Garver.

“Using all five pitches was just the main message that I wanted to bring to Woody and to (Garver)” he said. “Don’t box yourself into where you can only throw this to this guy, or whatever. I feel like I’m a good enough spot with pretty much all five, where I don’t care who it is or what count or what situation. I want to use all five. I did a better job of that today.”

All of the Mariners’ offense came in the first inning and was delivered by the duo of Cole Young and Colt Emerson.

With two outs in the first inning, Naylor singled to right-center off Baltimore starter Shane Baz and advanced to second on an error. Dom Canzone worked a walk to bring Young to the plate.

He went with a fastball away, sending a double down the left-field line to score Naylor. It was his 34th RBI of the season — second most on the team.

Emerson, who suffered through a tough game on Wednesday, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, pulled a single through the right side to score Canzone and Young for a 3-0 lead.

That was all the run support Woo and the bullpen would need. He started the eighth, but couldn’t get an out. He gave up a single and a walk and was pulled for Eduard Bazardo, who cleaned up the small mess for a scoreless eighth.

Andrés Muñoz closed out the ninth for his 12th save, working around multiple baserunners.