Mariners Woo their way to victory, shutout Angels 8-0 to even series
By Bel Garcia, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - After a frustrating series opening loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the Seattle Mariners looked to right the ship in tonight’s game two. They’ve been on a bit of a skid since their ten-game road trip, and unfortunately for Seattle, it has carried into the start of the six-game home stand as they’ve looked to break a season high tying four game losing streak. Not for a lack of effort, as the Mariners fell 8-5 in eleven innings last night. Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani was a late scratch in that one, but tonight was not listed in the lineup at all. Seattle made several adjustments to yesterday’s match up, the most noticeable being the timely base hits that helped propel them to a shutout 8-0 victory in this win.
Pregame sights and scenes ahead of the Seattle Mariners win over the Los Angeles Angels (Photos by Anthony May)
Mariners rookie right-hander Bryan Woo was the starter on the bump for the second game, his 15th Major League start with this being the third against Los Angeles. Woo was looking for some redemption from his last start in Cincinnati, which resulted in a loss after allowing five runs on four hits. Seattle’s coaching staff opted to rest Woo from the last pitching rotation shift to manage his workload to fit his prior minor schedule. He dueled on the mound with Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval for only his 15th start on the road. Sandoval’s 0-4 against the Seattle Mariners in his eight career starts, last taking a loss when the Mariners were in Anaheim back on June 10th.
The Seattle Mariners offense attacked Los Angeles Angels starter Dominic Leone often and early (Photos by Anthony May)
Seattle started their offensive efficiency early with a couple of singles in the bottom of the first, one by Julio Rodriguez and the other followed by Teoscar Hernandez. Teoscar extended his on-base streak to 27 games, the streak is currently an MLB best. Another single by Eugenio Suarez drove in Rodriguez and got the Mariners on the board early. The Mariners were making good contact and hitting the holes in the field perfectly. Ty France added one of his own, getting Hernandez home and increasing the lead to 2-0. The inning ended with a third run as Dylan Moore hit a line drive to left field for a double, driving in Suarez. France tried to score as well, sliding head first into home, but was tagged for the third out, leaving the score at 3-0. It was the exact score the Mariners achieved after the first inning in game one, but this time it was about consistent offense.
It only took a couple of innings for the Mariners to increase their lead. In the bottom of the fourth, with the bases loaded, JP Crawford doubled into center field. Angels center fielder Brett Phillips leapt to try and catch the ball, but it clipped off the top of his glove and rolled to the wall. With his double, Crawford drove in Sam Haggerty, France, and Moore, doubling the Mariners lead to 6-0. Seattle drove up the pitch count on Los Angeles starter Patrick Sandoval, and with two outs continued the inning with a Julio RBI single. Rodriguez drove in Crawford, giving him a sort of reward for clearing the bases. A now 7-0 lead, the Mariners led the Angels on the board and in hits totaling nine to the Angels’ two.
Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez celebrates his solo homer (Photos by Anthony May)
Seattle third baseman Eugenio Suarez hit a bomb to right center field for his 20th home run of the season, just clearing the wall for the 367 ft homer. In the bottom of the fifth the Mariners now saw themselves with eight runs, the total they surrendered to the Angels in last night’s game. Seattle’s last matchup against Sandoval on the mound came with five runs against and ten hits through five innings.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo, relieved by Eduard Bazardo and Dominic Leone, worked a combined shutout against the Los Angeles Angels (Photos by Anthony May)
Woo’s time on the mound came to an end after 5.2 innings pitched and 83 pitches, holding the Angels to no scoring runs. The extra rest did him well, he looked sharp on the mound, his fastball had the Angels’ hitters chasing. His final line was as follows: four hits, no runs, no walks, eight strikeouts and 20 swing/misses. Thirteen of those swing and misses came from a 4-Seam Fastball, three on the changeup, two on the cutter, and the other two on the sinker. Combined with the Mariners hitting efficiency; this was the recipe they needed to get back to winning baseball. Bazardo retired seven straight Angels batters in the 2.1 innings that he pitched, relieving Woo. Leone was the closer tonight, both relieving pitchers complimented Woo’s spectacular performance on the mound assisting in the shutout win.
Quick notes
The Mariners defeated the Angels tonight by an 8-0 score, evening the series.
The Mariners recorded their 15th shutout win of the season, tied for most in the Majors with Atlanta.
Seattle is now 17-10 over its last 27 games.
Seven of 9 batters in the starting lineup record at least one hit by the end of the 4th inning.
Seattle’s first 7 runs were all scored with 2 outs.
5 different batters recorded a 2-out RBI.
Seattle was also 80-65 after 145 games in 2022.
Teoscar Hernández extended his on-base streak to 27 games (8/15-c) with a single in the 1st inning… the streak is the longest active on-base streak in the Majors (via H, BB or HBP).
During the streak, Hernández is hitting .373 (41x110) with 8 doubles, 8 home runs, 27 RBI, 16 runs and 6 walks, getting on base at a .405 clip and slugging .664 (1.069 OPS).
The 27 games now ties Rodríguez streak (7/1-8/2) for the Mariners longest on-base streak of the season.
J.P. Crawford hit a 3-RBI double in the 4th inning to give Seattle a 6-0 lead… tonight was his 4th 3+ RBI game of the season.
The Mariners are tied for most bases-loaded RBI (137) in the AL this season with Houston.
Eugenio Suárez’ registered his 7th career 20+ home run season with his homer in the 5th inning.
Suárez recorded his 86th and 87th RBI of the season tonight to tie his 2022 season total (87).
He drove in the Mariners 1st run of the night with a RBI-single in the 1st inning.
In 5.2 scoreless innings pitched, Bryan Woo allowed 4 hits, no runs and no walks.
Woo’s 8 strikeouts tonight were his second-most of the season (high: 9 on 6/16 vs CWS).
He threw 83 pitches and 67 strikes.
Tonight was his 3rd win through 15 starts.
Julio Rodríguez continues to lead the AL in hits with 170 this season… he went 2-for-4 with 2 singles, a run and an RBI.
Rodríguez made it to base 3 times… he scored the first run of the night after reaching first base on an error.
In September, he is batting .315 (17x54) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs and 11 RBI while getting on base at a .315 clip and slugging .722 for a 1.037 OPS.
In his season debut with the Mariners, Luis Torrens hit a double after entering the game in the 8th.
Dylan Moore recorded his 7th multi-hit game of the season.
His 7th double of the season drove in Seattle’s third run in the 1st inning.
Ty France went 2-for-3 with 2 singles and an RBI.
What’s next?
The game two win means that the Mariners have set up a rubber match in tomorrow’s Wednesday, September 13th day game to close out this series against the Los Angeles Angels in the final game that these two American League West teams will play this year. The win tonight pushed Seattle back into the third AL Wild Card spot, and has them a game and a half behind the Houston Astros for the division lead thanks in part to the Oakland Athletics defeating them for a second straight game. The Mariners will look to continue a positive upswing in tomorrows game when they have ace Luis Castillo on the mound, as he’ll duel against a to be announced starter for the Angeles. First pitch time for that game is at 1:10PM PST at T-Mobile Park, before Seattle gets a day game and Castillo aims to secure his 13th win on the season.