Mariners down White Sox 6-3, extend winning streak to 8

CHICAGO – As they warmed up about an hour before the first pitch, before the rising humidity turned Guaranteed Rate Park into a dank steam room with an aroma of defeat, the Mariners were unaware of what was transpiring with their opponent.

Mired in their second straight season of underachievement, featuring undisciplined play on the field and total dysfunction in the clubhouse, the Chicago White Sox announced that executive vice president Kenny Williams, a fixture in the organization for 30 years, and general manager Rick Hahn had been relieved of their duties.

It was a familiar reminder of failures and seasons past in Seattle.

The Mariners have been in that disarray more than a handful of times in their existence.

But Tuesday night offered another stark juxtaposition in terms of effort and execution between teams headed in opposite directions.

A day after routing Chicago, scoring a season-high 14 runs without their best player, Julio Rodriguez, the Mariners, again without their star center fielder in the lineup, dispatched of the White Sox with an unsympathetic and businesslike 6-3 victory to extend their winning streak to eight games.

The Mariners improved to 71-55 on the season and maintained their one-game lead over the Blue Jays (70-56) for the third American League wild card.

Since July 1, the Mariners have a 33-31 record, which is the best in the American League. Conversely, the White Sox are 13-28 since July 1 and are 49-77 on the season.

The Mariners got a short but solid out from rookie Bryan Woo, who was activated from the injured list before the game while the bullpen covered the final five innings, allowing two runs.

With Rodriguez a late scratch because of a stomach illness, the Mariners continued to grind out at-bats. They banged out six hits, worked four walks and scored four runs off White Sox starter Mike Clevinger in five innings. In his prior two starts, Clevinger had allowed just one run on six hits in 13 combined innings.

The Mariners picked up pair of runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles from Mike Ford and J.P. Crawford. They added two more runs off Clevinger in the fourth inning on Josh Rojas’ two-run homer to right field.

In his first start since Aug. 3 and working on a limited pitch count due to the two weeks on the injured list, Woo pitched four innings, allowing one run on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Given the time away and the lack of a rehab outing, Woo looked a little out of sync in the first inning, which was to be expected. He walked the first batter he faced. And later allowed back-to-back two-out singles to Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn that allowed a run to score. But Woo settled in, retiring 11 of the next 12 batters.

Of his 65 pitches, 43 were strikes. Like Luis Castillo on Monday, Woo relied heavily on his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, throwing them a combined 46 times.