Mariners secure series victory behind Woo's strong start

SEATTLE -- Bryan Woo overcame a first-inning homer by settling in to dominate over six scoreless innings through the rest of his outing. The Mariners’ bats backed him by cashing in more consistently on their traffic, as Seattle rallied to a 4-3 win over the Giants on Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

Woo pitched into the seventh inning for the fifth time in a row after not ever going that deep in his young career prior. In the process, and even with the two-run blast that he surrendered to Heliot Ramos, Woo lowered his ERA to 2.05 this season -- second-best in MLB behind only Atlanta’s Reynaldo López (2.02) among 124 pitchers with at least 85 innings.

“It's been more mental,” Woo said of pitching deeper into games, “doing it once or twice, understanding that I can do it, and that I can still have good stuff late in the game. So I think it's just digging deep. And being able to find that, it's kind of opened up a new part of my game.”

Here are some other notes from Sunday:

Julio at DH, even after Raley scratched
Luke Raley was slated to lead off and play center field -- even with the left-hander and former Mariner Robbie Ray starting for the Giants. But Raley was pulled 20 minutes before first pitch due to flu-like symptoms. Even so, the Mariners stuck with Julio Rodríguez in the designated hitter spot and instead, they used Randy Arozarena in center.

The decision spoke to the Mariners’ commitment to getting Rodríguez off his feet periodically after he returned to the premium position on Friday. It also suggested that pain from his high right ankle sprain is still lingering -- evidenced by the limp he showed on his deceleration after a game-tying, RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth.

Rodríguez initially suffered the injury on July 21 when his cleat got stuck in the padding of the center-field wall, then he was on the injured list for three weeks. Upon returning on Aug. 11, Rodríguez had been used exclusively at DH until Friday. In 12 games back, including Sunday’s 0-for-4 clip, he’s hitting .196 with a .549 OPS and zero homers.

Rivas making most of opportunity
Leo Rivas had the walk-off hit and a key RBI knock during their eighth-inning rally in Friday’s win. But on Sunday, he showed his defensive value with consecutive outs in the second inning that were vital to keeping the game close.

Rivas, who’s taken a bulk of the shortstop reps while J.P. Crawford has been sidelined, was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma when Crawford was placed on the IL with a fractured right pinkie on July 23. And Rivas is presenting a case to remain once Crawford returns, which could come this week vs. the Rays or next weekend in Anaheim. Crawford began a rehab assignment with Tacoma on Saturday.

“The last couple years, I’ve been just focused too much on the future, and that kind of got me struggling,” Rivas said. “So, I’m just trying to be present every day.”

Seattle’s only other candidate to be optioned upon Crawford’s return would be outfielder Dominic Canzone, who’s almost exclusively been playing against righties.

Old friend Ray exits early
Ray was making a much-anticipated return to Seattle for the first time since a Jan. 5 trade that sent him to San Francisco and returned Mitch Haniger to the Mariners. Aside from three walks, he was mostly dominant -- but his outing was cut short after he suffered left hamstring tightness to begin his fourth inning.

Ray winced after unleashing his 62nd pitch, then after a lengthy conferral with a Giants athletic trainer, he exited. Sunday marked just his seventh start back since undergoing Tommy John surgery last May when he was still with the Mariners.

Arozarena to face former team
The Mariners’ biggest Trade Deadline acquisition is set to face his former team for the first time, when the Rays arrive on Monday for a three-game series.

With perhaps some extra motivation, Arozarena will look to break out of a recent funk, as he’s just 3-for-36 (.083) over his past 10 games, though he did rip a single and steal his 100th career base in the eighth.

“Just sticking to my confidence,” he said through an interpreter. “The confidence that I have, just continue working on that on the field, because I know things are going to come. I'm not losing sleep over it. I know I'm not helping the team as much as they want, but I know that this is just a small streak and things are going to turn around.”