SEATTLE -- Before he labored through 27 pitches in the first inning on Saturday, before escaping that bases-loaded jam with just one run allowed and before his turnaround into what might have been another career-propelling performance, Bryan Woo drew parallels earlier in the day to pitching at the MLB level and playing a video game.
¡°Every level is level one, level two, level three,¡± Woo said of making mid-start adjustments. ¡°It's going to get harder the further you go.
¡°And so it's not like you've put up two zeros and now you're just grooving. The next level just gets harder and harder and harder. So you've got to continue to kind of re-lock in after you come out for the next inning. And it's just kind of an internal motivation, I guess, to just keep going.¡±
Whether gaming in front of a TV or on the mound, Woo has leveled up in a huge way as he embarks on his third big league season, with a dominant start in Saturday¡¯s 9-2 win vs. the Rangers at T-Mobile Park that encapsulated another major step in his maturation to becoming an elite starting pitcher.
After allowing each of his first four batters to reach, including a four-pitch walk at the outing¡¯s outset, Woo remarkably dodged an early disaster and went on to retire 20 of his next 24, including each of his final 12 -- capped by a 95.6 mph, front-hip two-seamer to lefty-hitting Leody Taveras, who buckled under the 21 inches of horizontal break, five more than Woo¡¯s season average on the offering.
It was arguably Woo¡¯s best pitch of the night, and it helped him clear the seventh inning. In the process, Woo spelled a taxed Mariners bullpen and rode comfortable run support thanks to an offensive outburst from Seattle¡¯s bats.
¡°That was exceptional tonight,¡± Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. ¡°With the way it could have gone ... he just went to work and didn't let up the rest of the way. We've talked about his mindset when he gets out there, that was as good a mindset as we've seen.¡±
It wasn¡¯t just the swing-and-miss stuff that Woo unleashed but the efficiency that he operated with. After that lengthy first frame, Woo averaged just under 11 pitches per inning the rest of the way, and none of them were very high-stress, either.
All of that was taken into consideration when Woo was summoned back to the mound for the seventh, with the bottom of the Rangers¡¯ order due up and a comfortable lead. He went 1-2-3, holding Texas 0-for-9 their third time through the lineup, which itself continued an upward trend on specific and an already promising trajectory. For the season, opposing hitters are 0-for-18 with two walks vs. Woo the third time through.
¡°I was kind of trying to hide, making sure that I wasn't going to get taken out of that game,¡± Woo said. ¡°[I] wanted it bad. Obviously, you know when you're getting better throughout the game and when you're kind of losing steam. And today definitely felt like I was getting better as the game went on.¡±
Just as telling was Saturday¡¯s opponent.
Although the Rangers haven¡¯t exhibited their juggernaut offense since winning the 2023 World Series title, they are the team that Woo made his MLB debut against less than two years ago. That outing started quite similar to Saturday but had a far different outcome. Woo gave up consecutive doubles on his first two pitches back on June 3, 2023, then went on to surrender six runs.
¡°You want to take all the drama out of it and what's going on,¡± Woo said, ¡°and just kind of focus on what you got to do.¡±
Woo was backed by some sound situational hitting in a four-run fourth inning, then a 420-foot solo homer from Cal Raleigh in the fifth, marking the second day in a row that he went deep with his new ¡®torpedo¡¯ bat.
The Mariners also rallied another four-spot in the eighth after Woo departed, headlined by Rowdy Tellez coming just shy of his fourth career triple. The slugging first baseman was out sliding into third base, but it still drove in two runs -- and the vibes in the ballpark were already high when seeing the big fella hustle.
Seattle also secured a winning homestand against the Astros and Rangers in what could be an early tone-setter in the American League West. The Mariners are now on a three-game winning streak for the first time in 2025, with the chance for a sweep.