Bryan Woo continues dominant stretch, M’s rally to beat Giants 4-3

Bryan Woo has proven something to himself over the past month, and something to everyone else, too.

Even something to his catcher.

“He’s got all the talent in the world; (he’s) really, really special,” Cal Raleigh said after Woo’s latest gem helped the Mariners to a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

“But I think what we’ve seen the last month or so is him taking that next step and really taking ownership of his career and how he wants to do things. It’s really exciting to see.”

Woo, the 24-year-old right-hander, matched his career high in innings pitched with seven strong innings, and the Mariners used a small-ball approach under new manager Dan Wilson to rally for a much-needed series win on a sunny Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 35,062 at T-Mobile Park.

Dylan Moore had three of the team’s five steals, and the Mariners (66-65) even deployed the use of a (gasp!) sacrifice bunt to help scratch out four runs without the benefit of a home run.

The Mariners are, incredibly, 53-11 when they score at least four runs.

Sunday’s victory was just their 13th (against 28 losses) when they don’t hit a homer.

“We did what we had to do today and grinded out a ‘W,’ and that’s big,” Wilson said after his third game since taking over for Scott Servais as manager.

Raleigh approves of the slight shift in offensive approach.

“It’s little things like that that win games,” Raleigh said. “Whether it’s bunting, base running … it’s always good when you’re creating offense and it’s not always necessarily home runs or doubles in the gap. That is offense as well and it puts pressure on the defense, and it worked out for us today.”

Woo, a Bay Area native pitching against his childhood team, allowed a first-inning home run to Heliot Ramos, a two-run shot after the Giants’ leadoff hitter, Tyler Fitzgerald, reached on an error.

Woo was nearly flawless after that, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Over his last six starts, Woo has allowed a total of six earned runs, posting a 1.42 ERA over 38 innings, with four walks and 34 strikeouts.

Woo’s 2.05 ERA in 16 starts this season leads American League pitchers who have thrown at least 80 innings.

This was Woo’s fifth consecutive start pitching into the seventh inning – something he’d not done in any of his first 29 major-league starts before Aug. 2.

Woo’s breakthrough coincided with a sit-down conversation he had with Raleigh, his catcher and roommate, at Boston’s Fenway Park in late July.

Raleigh told Woo he was capable of more.

“I think for me it’s been more mental, doing it once or twice and understanding that I can do it and I can still have good stuff late in the game,” Woo said. “So I think it’s just digging deep, and I’ve been able to find that. It’s kind of opened up a new part of my game … and being able to find that recently has been awesome.”

Mariners reliever Collin Snider, trying to protect a 4-2 lead, allowed a homer to Giants rookie Grant McCray leading off the eighth inning, cutting the Mariners’ lead to one run.

Snider then walked two of the next three batters, bringing up the heart of the Giants lineup. But Snider struck out Ramos on three pitchers and got Michael Conforto, the Redmond native, to ground out to end the threat, stranding two runners.

It was a similar story in the ninth inning for Andres Muñoz, who walked two batters before getting Mark Canha to swing through a biting slider to end the game. It was Muñoz’s 19th save.

All three games in the series were one-run games, and the Mariners’ two wins were both late comebacks.

Giants left-hander Robbie Ray, the ex-Mariner, allowed one run in three innings before having to leave the game in the bottom of the fourth because of tightness in his left hamstring.

The Mariners were able to take advantage of Ray’s slow deliver to the plate and steal four bases in the first three innings, and the Mariners finished with eight steals in the three-game series.

“It sets the tone early in a game, and we’re able to swipe a couple bags, get ourselves out of double play and into scoring position,” Wilson said. “I thought it made a statement early. These guys were aggressive and I loved it.”

Moore, a last-minute addition to the top of the lineup after Luke Raley was scratched because of flu-like symptoms, had one hit, one run, two walks and three stolen bases.

Cal Raleigh drove in Moore in the bottom of the first to cut the Mariners’ deficit to 2-1.

The Mariners tied it at 2-2 in the fifth when Julio Rodriguez narrowly avoided an inning-ending double play, hustling up the line on for a fielder’s choice RBI, scoring Rojas from third for the tying run.

In the sixth inning, the Mariners loaded the bases on Giants reliever Sean Hjelle after two hit-by-pitches and a single by Justin Turner.

Mitch Haniger grounded into a double play to score Randy Arozarena from third for the go-ahead run.

Rojas added a two-out, two-strike single to push the lead to 4-2.

It was the 2,000th game played at T-Mobile Park. Wilson, who replaced Scott Servais as manager on Friday, scored the first run at the ballpark on July 15, 1999.