Woo's gem paves way for bullpen to shut the door

SEATTLE -- It was shaping up to be an all-too-familiar outcome, one that the Mariners had just witnessed less than 24 hours prior, featuring heavy traffic in the late innings, a one-run lead and a gem from their starting pitcher that could quickly be spoiled.

But this time around, Bryan Woo limited the damage and rode the support of two huge outs from Gabe Speier as Seattle held on for a 4-2 win over the Royals on Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park. A big defensive play from Josh Rojas and Ryne Stanek limited trouble in the eighth before Andrés Muñoz worked a five-out save, getting around two runners in the ninth inning.

The Mariners secured their eighth series win among their past nine, their fifth in a row at home -- and another against a quality opponent.

Perhaps above all, they wrapped a winning homestand feeling much better about the health of Woo, whose first outing off the injured list last Friday was cut short due to tightness in his pitching forearm.

The second-year starter cruised through the first five innings with just one baserunner allowed, via a bunt single by Michael Massey in the second, before another long layover -- the culprit for his issue on Friday -- occurred in the middle of the fifth, when home-plate umpire Jim Wolf left for precautionary reasons after taking a foul ball off his mask.

With guidance from the Mariners’ athletic training staff, Woo installed new methods Wednesday for time in-between innings.

“They came up with a couple of ideas that we tried,” Woo said. “And yeah, I felt really good. I was able to get a hot pack on, throw weighted balls and stuff in between innings. … Some stuff here and there with some breathing and kind of how to get my heart rate going before I go back out.”

Woo got one more out in the sixth and allowed a run before departing. He filled up the zone, with 60 of his 79 pitches for strikes, and held lefties to a 2-for-10 clip with two strikeouts, which represented a notable improvement in a small sample after they tagged him for a .928 OPS last year. He also racked up five strikeouts to bring his career total to 101, becoming the eighth player in franchise history to hit the century mark through his first 20 career starts.

Offensively, Luke Raley legged out a heads-up play to beat a forceout at third with the bases loaded in the second to get Seattle on the board. Then, Ty France crushed his second homer of the series in the fourth before Rojas drove in a critical insurance run in the seventh after Dominic Canzone led the frame with a ground-rule double after being activated from the IL pregame.

For good measure, red-hot Raley added another RBI in the eighth, though he was tagged out by Bobby Witt Jr. while attempting to leg out a double. Still, with a 113.7 mph single earlier, he’s elevated his OPS to 1.132 in May after a .505 clip in March/April.

“For me, one of the biggest plays of the game was when he beats the force at third base,” Servais said. “There are not many guys in the league that run as hard as he does on every play. And that's why he was safe.”

Seattle improved to 19-3 when plating at least four runs -- a telling sign to its stingy pitching.

Beyond Woo, Speier rebounded from surrendering two runs in two of his past three outings by shutting down lefty slugger Vinnie Pasquantino via a foul popout and striking out Salvador Perez on three sliders -- stranding the tying run on third base and go-ahead run at first. Perez was Speier’s primary batterymate during his four seasons in Kansas City (2019-22).

“He loved my sinker,” Speier said. “So I feel like every time I've faced him, he's kind of been sitting on that. But yeah, after the first swing [Perez] took on the slider and Cal kept calling it, and I agreed.”

Stanek then went 1-2-3 in the seventh and Muñoz shut the door in the eighth after inheriting two runners in scoring position. He came back out for the ninth, working around two more baserunners to secure the save with a season-high 33 pitches.

“I don't even think about what is going to happen next,” Muñoz said when asked about his mentality between the eighth and ninth innings. “I'm just focused in that moment and just trying to get outs, try to save the run and that is the mentality at that moment.”