Mariners end their time in Oakland with a 6-4 win over the A’s
OAKLAND, Calif. – The winning pitcher in the Mariners’ final game played at the venerable and decaying Oakland Coliseum was from a kid that was born and raised less than 3 miles from the concrete structure that will soon be without a baseball team for the first time since 1968.
In a delicious bit of serendipity, Bryan Woo, who was born and raised in nearby Alameda, took the mound for the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon at a place where he watched hundreds of games as a kid, even though he was actually a fan of the San Francisco Giants.
Woo gave the Mariners a start good enough to win and the Mariners slugged three homers, including a big two-run homer from Luke Raley in the top of the ninth inning that proved necessary in the Mariners’ 6-4 victory. Seattle split the four-game series with Oakland.
The Mariners gave Woo some early run support via homers off A’s starter Joey Estes.
With Victor Robles on third base, Cal Raleigh crushed a 93-mph fastball left over the middle of the plate, sending a blast to deep right field for his 29th homer of the season.
It was Raleigh’s 88th career homer, tying him with manager Dan Wilson for most in franchise history by a catcher. Of course, Raleigh reached that total in slightly fewer games and plate appearances.
Julio Rodriguez made it 3-0 in impressive fashion. Leading off the third, he hit a first-pitch sweeper that hung in the zone. Instead of yanking it foul or watching it go by, he launched it into the empty second deck in left field for his 14th homer of the season.
Per MLB Statcast data, Rodriguez’s blast traveled 448 feet, the third longest of his career.
Woo didn’t have his typical dominance over the A’s. He battled a rising pitch count early in the game and actually allowed a run to score, well, two to be exact. It was something he hadn’t done in his four previous outings against the local team. Woo came into the game with a 3-0 record and 21 1/3 scoreless innings pitched against the A’s in his young career.
In the third inning, he allowed a leadoff single to A’s rookie and top prospect Jacob Wilson, the son of one-time Mariners shortstop Jack Wilson. Lawrence Butler followed with an infield single on a ground ball that shortstop Leo Rivas couldn’t quite handle as he was covering second base on a stolen base attempt.
Woo came back to strike out Brent Rooker for the first out of the inning, but gave up a single to J.J. Bleday to load the bases. Veteran left-handed hitter Seth Brown drove in the A’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Mariners got the run back in the top of the fifth. Robles led off with a single, made a hustling play to advance to third when third baseman Max Schuemann mishandled a rocket ground ball for an error. Raleigh drove in his third run of the game and 87th run of the season with a sac fly to make it 4-1.
With his pitch count nearing the 80s to begin the fifth inning, Woo knew it would likely be his final inning of work. He made sure to end it on his own terms, even after giving up a solo homer to Brent Rooker with one out that cut Seattle’s lead to 4-2
Woo made sure to finish the outing even after allowing a two-out single to Brown. He got Zach Gelof to fly out to center and walked off the mound while friends and family cheered his effort.
His final line: five innings pitched, two runs allowed on eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts.