HOUSTON – What was shaping up to be maybe the best day of the season for the Mariners turned, suddenly and ominously, into its most dreaded.
The Mariners had much to celebrate after a resounding 4-0 victory over the rival Houston Astros on Friday night to open one of Seattle’s most important series in recent history.
The win pushed the Mariners (85-69) into sole possession of first place in the American League West and pulled them into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for the AL’s No. 2 seed, a notable development because the league’s top two seeds are granted first-round byes.
All that, however, took a back seat to questions surrounding Bryan Woo, the Mariners’ 25-year-old All-Star right-hander who abruptly exited the game in the sixth inning with what was later described as tightness in his pectoral.
Woo is scheduled to have an MRI on Saturday.
“Just felt a little tightness,” Woo said. ” … We’ll get some some stuff done tomorrow and I’ll know more. I really don’t know much so far.”
Mariners manager Dan Wilson tried to strike an optimistic tone about his ace’s outlook.
“You’re obviously concerned in some ways, but I think in other ways – Bryan, he’s a tough cookie,” Wilson said. “And I think it was smart that he let us know, and there was no reason to push it. We’ll just find out more tomorrow. I think there’s just too many of those at this point.”
Woo said he had felt fine early in the game, and he looked better than that through five scoreless innings, allowed only one hit.
It was late in the bottom of the fifth that he felt something in his pectoral, and he let coaches and trainers know after he got back into the visitors’ dugout. He went back out in the sixth for warmups but motioned to the dugout after just a few pitches.
He soon left the mound with team trainer Kyle Torgerson.
“Obviously, we’re hoping for the best,” Wilson said. “We’ll just see what happens when we get more news tomorrow.”
Julio Rodríguez’s first-inning home run off Houston ace Hunter Brown put the Mariners in control early, and three more solo homers – from Eugenio Suárez, Victor Robles and Josh Naylor – kept a sold-out crowd of 41,471 at Daikin Park silent for almost the entire night.
The M’s have won 12 of 13, playing their best baseball of season with October just around the corner. There’s a growing sense – both in their clubhouse and from those around the sport – that this Mariners roster could be better positioned than any other AL team to make a serious run at a World Series berth.
Woo’s injury, if significant, would seriously alter the complexion of the Mariners’ postseason plans.
Woo has emerged this season as the Mariners’ workhorse, a first-time All-Star who leads the team in virtually every pitching category, and notably in innings pitched.
That’s an achievement for a young pitcher who has battled through several injuries early in his career – he had Tommy John surgery while still in college in 2021, and several stints on the injured list during his first two MLB seasons – and for a Seattle rotation that tread water for much of the season while Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller missed considerable time with injuries of their own.
If Woo is unable to make his next start, Emerson Hancock could be an option. He moved to the bullpen earlier this month, but could conceivably give the Mariners some length.
Rookie Logan Evans, who made 15 starts for the Mariners this season, remains on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
Eduard Bazardo took over for Woo in the sixth inning Friday and pitched perfect innings, continuing his breakthrough season out of the bullpen.
Matt Brash worked a scoreless eighth inning and Andrés Muñoz worked the ninth in a non-save situation to complete the shutout.
Mariners pitchers have posted 11 shutouts this season. They also shut out the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, the second time this season they’ve posted consecutive shutouts (they shut out the Pirates in three straight games in early July).
Rodríguez launched a homer to the back of the Crawford Boxes in left field, turning on a 96.5-mph sinker from Brown that was several inches off the plate inside. That quieted the sold-out crowd of 41,471 at Daikin Park early on, and those fans had little to cheer for the rest of the night.
Suárez hit his 47th homer in the fourth inning on a low curveball from Brown.
Robles hit his first homer in the season off the high wall in left field in the seventh, and Naylor added the fourth solo blast of the night in the eighth.
It was Naylor’s 20 homer of the season, making him the rare first baseman to post a 20-homer/20-steal season.
Coming into this series, the Mariners and Astros had split their first 10 games of the season. That means the team that wins this three-game series will hold the edge in any potential tiebreaker scenarios at the end of the regular season.
How to purchase playoff tickets
The Mariners on Friday afternoon announced plans for fans to purchase playoff tickets for home games at T-Mobile Park in October.
In their last playoff appearance in 2022, the Mariners reported tickets sold out within minutes of becoming available to the public.
Mariners season ticket members will have access to postseason tickets next Wednesday. Presale instructions will be distributed to those members on Monday.
Fans can still gain access to the season ticket member presale by purchasing a Mariners Homestretch Flex Plan by 9 a.m. Monday.
Postseason tickets will be available to the general public starting at noon next Thursday.
For details, visit Mariners.com/Postseason.