Bryan Woo took another hard lesson Thursday night, allowing six runs over six innings in the Mariners’ 7-6 loss to the Royals. The right-hander was tagged for three runs in the first inning, then watched Kansas City add two more on solo homers by Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone in his last inning.
Woo, who had been hit even harder a week earlier when he gave up four home runs to the Cardinals and lasted just three innings while striking out one of 18 batters faced, said he was left with mixed feelings after this one. “The only one that I’d probably like to have back is the sinker to Salvy,” he said, referring to Salvador Perez. “But I thought the rest of the pitches were not bad by any means.” He also said, “My process might have been alright, but I still got my ass kicked.”
The outing mattered because it was a sharp turn from the version of Woo the Mariners had counted on for much of the season. He had been so consistent earlier that he held the franchise record for most consecutive six-inning games to open a season, and there was no sign of injury or velocity drop to explain the slide. But the sinker, the pitch at the center of the Royals’ damage, has lost both run and rise this season, and Woo threw seven sinkers in his first two innings before using only three over the rest of the night. Cal Raleigh and the Mariners seemed to agree the pitch was the issue.
Woo did manage four clean innings after the opening damage, but the final line was still bruising: 11 hard-hit balls, two strikeouts and another start in which the damage came fast and loud. “There’s a balance to it, try to take the good and learn from the bad,” he said. “But. You know. It sucks.” Asked what he could make of it all, he was blunt: “I don’t know. It’s —. I got not a ton of answers.” For Seattle, the next step is simple enough: find a way to get the sinker back before another outing like this one turns into a pattern. For the bigger picture, the Mariners return to Seattle for the Braves-Mariners finale that pits Martin Perez against Bryan Woo, and they need a cleaner version of their starter now more than later.