SEATTLE — The swinging bunt chopped directly to Bryan Woo‘s right coming off the mound, pushing the Mariners’ most athletic starter to race towards the third-base line and fire a sidearm strike to first baseman Josh Naylor.
Everything about the sequence was well-executed by Woo — he worked into an 0-2 count, landed his two-seamer inside, jammed the right-hitting Jose Iglesias for weak contact, corralled the dribbler and hit the outstretched Naylor — except for that his throw was just late.
Woo knew it, too, dropping to his right knee as Iglesias reached to load the bases — because he knew, too, that his day was done in the moment, and with it, a streak that’s spoken to his durability and longevity in this All-Star season.
Relieved with two outs in the fifth inning, Woo’s franchise record of 25 starts of pitching at least six innings came to an end on Wednesday — just one out shy. But the uber competitive Woo was able to take solace in Seattle hanging on to a 4-3 win after being picked up by his bullpen.
“It was do-or-die,” Woo said of his final play. “I think, obviously, I know he’s not like a burner, but he can run all right, and so you’ve got to get rid of the ball. And yeah, I definitely wanted that one. I don’t know. I’m going to be watching that inning for probably a little bit.”
Woo’s 25-start stretch was tied for the fourth-longest in MLB since 2015, was the sport’s longest since Houston’s Framber Valdez from April 25 to Sept. 18, 2022, and was the Mariners’ longest since Randy Johnson had a stretch extending from his American League Cy Young Award-winning season in 1995 to 1996.
Add in that Woo had surrendered two walks or fewer and the historical criteria shrinks even further, as he was the first pitcher to throw that many innings in that many games with that few free passes to begin a season since Cy Young himself in 1905.
As he walked off the mound following a lengthy conferral with Mariners manager Dan Wilson, Woo received a roaring ovation from the ticketed 36,700, a gesture that showed an appreciation to the totality of his season.
“He’s given me the opportunity plenty of times before, earlier in the year, and I was able to come through on those,” Woo said. “And I just wasn’t able to do it today.”
But enough about what ended on Wednesday.
The Mariners, after all, secured a series win over a legitimate World Series contender, and Woo continued to elevate his status as Seattle’s staff ace and one of the sport’s most consistent pitchers — even if he fell, quite literally, one out short by his standards.
At this rate, Woo won’t contend for the 2025 AL Cy Young Award — Detroit’s Tarik Skubal is the overwhelming favorite to repeat, though Boston’s Garrett Crochet is making things interesting — though Woo will likely earn down-ballot votes.
With Skubal, Woo is MLB’s only starter this year with a sub-3.00 ERA (he’s at 2.95), more than 160 strikeouts (166) and 35 or fewer walks ( 31) and at least 150 innings (he’s now accumulated 164 2/3, fourth-most in MLB and just innings shy of the overall lead).
The last part is where Woo has taken a massive leap this season — not just from a volume standpoint (exceeding his previous career high of 136 1/3 in 2024, including the Minors), but more so, for his durability (having dealt with multiple injuries before being drafted in 2021 and then again in each of his first two MLB seasons).
“That’s why you know that, when you give him some leash, he’s going to be able to do the job,” Wilson said.
Woo received a boon of run support via an RBI double from Luke Raley in the second inning, which sparked some traction vs. Padres’ spin specialist Yu Darvish, then a three-run homer from Eugenio Suárez in the fourth.
Suárez, who had three homers and a .582 OPS in his first 19 games upon rejoining the Mariners at the Trade Deadline, finished Seattle’s 4-2 homestand with three homers and a 1.113 OPS — more signs that his streaky bat could be on the cusp of a hot stretch.
“I think my approach right now, my tempo, my timing, is real good,” Suárez said. “I’ve just got to keep going, be consistent with that and not lose my timing.”
