Woo flirts with perfecto, and does so with Flair
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SEATTLE -- The teal shade of the cleats made them shine against Bryan Woo’s crisp white pants and could be spotted without even squinting from even the farthest seats at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday night.
Gifted from PitchingNinja, the custom kicks that Seattle’s second-year starter sported during a 5-2 win over the Padres featured a cartoon of celebrity Ric Flair on the exterior of his right foot. In the same area on his left, Flair’s signature shouting phrase that also mirrors Woo’s name was plastered with two exclamation points.
The Nike swoosh and most of the front side of each foot was in Mariners teal, blended with gray and navy along the back, imprinted alongside Woo’s No. 22 and the logo from PitchingNinja, the popular social media personality who’s also a big fan of the Mariners’ rotation.
And for most of Wednesday night, it looked like these creatively-themed cleats might be bound for Cooperstown, as Woo carried a perfect game into the seventh inning and was economically cruising with his pitch count.
The bid, however, wound up ending on a rocket of a solo homer from Fernando Tatis Jr., the Padres’ 20th batter of the night.
Woo then surrendered a double to Jurickson Profar in the ensuing at-bat and then struck out Manny Machado just after. But his night ended on a nine-pitch walk to Jake Cronenworth, finishing one out shy of clearing the seventh. Upon handing the ball to Mariners manager Dan Wilson as reliever Troy Taylor entered, Woo shouted into his glove in frustration.
But as his face emerged during his pace to the home dugout, he couldn’t help but soak in the roaring ovation -- a Flair mimic of “Woo!” from the ticketed 21,129 on hand.
Carbon-copy, pull-side singles with the bases loaded in the third inning from Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley -- Seattle’s most consistent hitters within its oft-scuffling offense -- gave Woo and the rest of the Mariners’ pitching staff enough breathing room to reach the finish line. And their win, coupled with the Astros’ loss, cut the Mariners’ deficit to 3 1/2 games in the American League West. They ramin four games back of the final AL Wild Card spot.