The fourth-year starter put the Mariners' 6-5 loss against the Cleveland Guardians on his own shoulders.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners most recent All-Star starting pitcher, right-hander Bryan Woo, made his season debut against the Cleveland Guardians in game three of a four-game series on Saturday at T-Mobile Park.
The Mariners ultimately lost the game 6-5 in 10 innings. Despite the defeat, Woo looked to pick up right where he left off. At least from a statistical perspective.
Woo struck out nine batters in six innings pitched. He walked one batter and allowed two earned runs on four hits. It was Seattle's second quality start of the season.
However, the two runs allowed by Woo proved to be critical ones.
Leading 2-0 in the top of the sixth, Woo walked the lead-off batter. He got two outs after but the free base ended up coming back to haunt the '25 All-Star.
Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez brought the lead-off walk home with an RBI double. Ramirez scored the next at-bat with an RBI single from first baseman Kyle Manzardo that tied the game 2-2.
The sixth inning marked the end of the day for Woo. The game was still tied after Woo's outing was done and Seattle had more than its fair share of opportunities to take control throughout the game.
The Mariners went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners stranded. For comparison, the Guardians went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left just six on base.
Despite these factors, Woo took the responsibility of the loss on his own shoulders after the game.
Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo against the Kansas City Royals during a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images"Even though a lot of things took place, I still feel like this game was on me," Woo said in a postgame interview Saturday. "I feel like if I do my job and limit the damage, even if I just give up (one run) in that inning, you still get out of it with a lead. ... When you got (a team) down like that, you got to keep them down. Especially a scrappy team like that, you give them any breath of life, then they'll take it and run with it. I just got to do a better job of keeping teams down while they're down."
Given the Mariners' opportunities with runners in scoring position throughout the game, it's hard to put the loss on Woo. Seattle had runners on first and second with the game tied and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. There were chances earlier in the game to gain further separation.
However, Woo has emerged as a leader in the clubhouse and it makes sense someone with his standing would own responsibility for the loss.
On a grander scale, Saturday still marked a strong overall start to the year for the fourth-year hurler and will be something to build on as the M's look to live up to the championship aspirations it entered the series with.
The Mariners will look to secure a series split against the Guardians at 4:20 p.m. PT on Sunday. Emerson Hancock is on the mound.
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