Woo's dominant outing falls to the wayside

HOUSTON -- Bryan Woo put the Mariners in the driver’s seat on Saturday night. Rebounding from giving up two runs in the first inning, the rookie right-hander settled in and retired the next 14 batters.

The offense was set up to repay the favor in the eighth. Houston reliever Hector Neris handed Seattle a bases-loaded, no-out situation with a hit-by-pitch and two walks in a 2-2 tie. But the Mariners couldn’t capitalize in a 3-2 loss at Minute Maid Park that will surely sting.

“We’ve won six out of our last seven, been playing really good ball,” manager Scott Servais said. “But [we] had a chance to really take control of this series … and didn’t get that quality at-bat we needed there.

“[We] had them against the ropes. We just couldn’t give them the knockout punch.”

Cal Raleigh struck out. Mike Ford popped up. José Caballero watched strike three. And Neris celebrated with impunity as he wriggled out of a self-inflicted jam. Then the second of two gut-punch mistakes occurred half an inning later, as light-hitting catcher Martín Maldonado launched a go-ahead solo homer that would seal the loss.

The silver lining? Woo’s dominance.

In his second consecutive quality start -- the July 3 outing in front of a hometown San Francisco crowd was the first of his career -- Woo retired 14 straight batters. After Houston strung together three hits and took advantage of a Dylan Moore throwing error for a second run in the first, he didn’t allow another hit.

Woo didn’t need his slider to do it either. According to Statcast, he didn’t throw a single slider and only one changeup, instead leaning on a near-equal split of four-seamers, sinkers and cutters to subdue a righty-heavy Astros’ lineup.

“The cutter was just feeling better than the slider was today,” Woo said. "[I] was able to throw it more for strikes, so just kind of is what it is. Some days, you’re not going to have some pitches. … [Today] was just one of those days.”

The decline in slider usage hasn’t just been a one-day phenomenon. According to Statcast, Woo has thrown progressively less sliders in each of his starts. Instead, the cutter -- almost a faster version of the slider with less movement -- has replaced it in recent starts. After he threw six cutters on June 27, Woo followed with 10 his next start and 19 on Saturday night.

He was able to command it and throw it in for strikes, allowing for an efficient 78 pitches in six innings. And given that it was in question whether Woo would even be allowed to make his final start before the All-Star break -- or be given extended time off to curb his workload like George Kirby last year -- the strong start was a big win for the rookie.

Woo has already far surpassed his 2022 innings total (57) after Saturday pushed him to 78 2/3 frames thrown in 2023 between the Majors and Minors. But the way the 23-year-old has evolved and proven himself as a Major League-worthy starter, it could be tough to keep him off the mound.

“I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot. Arm and body feel good,” Woo said. “I know that [the club] is kind of monitoring the innings a little bit. Day like today, where the pitch count wasn’t too high but got into the sixth, it’s frustrating as a competitor.

“But at the same time, you see where they’re coming from. … You respect their decision, and then you just do the best you can with it and continue to get better throughout the year.”