Eugenio Suárez’s 3-run blast lifts Mariners past Padres

The bass thumped from the speakers as Ja Rule’s “Livin’ It Up” played late Wednesday afternoon inside the home clubhouse, the go-to song of choice for the Mariners to punctuate each victory.

And, indeed, there was much to celebrate for the after a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. Eugenio Suárez hit his second three-run homer in as many days, and the Mariners (72-62) wrapped up a winning homestand while holding onto a wild-card playoff position in the American League.

This time of year, after this type of gut-check win, everybody should be Livin’ It Up, right?

Not exactly.

Amid the convivial vibes, Bryan Woo stomped around the clubhouse in stark contrast.

The Mariners’ 25-year-old emerging ace wore the expression of toddler at bedtime, unamused and unfazed by anything around him. The scowl that makes him such a menacing figure on the mound was still prominent on his face more than an hour after he’d been removed from the game.

Mind you, Woo won this ballgame.

He once again pitched quite well, throwing five scoreless inning to begin his 26th start of the season before running into some trouble in the sixth.

Still, Woo was not satisfied with simply pitching into the sixth inning. Such are the expectations he’s built for himself this season that Woo wants more – demands from himself, really.

And that context helps explain Woo’s reaction when manager Dan Wilson came out to pull his starting pitcher with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth.

Woo, as animated as he’s ever been, shouted into his glove once he turned and saw Wilson emerge from the dugout.

So ended Woo’s streak of 25 starts of pitching at least six innings, the longest such streak to begin a season in the majors in a decade.

“You just want to be in those spots and finish the job, and just wasn’t able to do it,” Woo said. “But Dan gave me more than a long enough leash, giving me the opportunity to try to get out of it. I didn’t do my job.”

Wilson did want to give Woo the chance to extend the streak, but with a chance to win a key series he knew he had to turn to veteran left-hander Gabe Speier in that bases-loaded situation with the Mariners holding a 4-1 lead.

Woo was at 95 pitches at that point, and Wilson said he had a talk with Woo later about his decision to go to the bullpen.

“It’s not about the streak; it’s about wanting to stay in the game and keep us where we were,” Wilson said. “I think he was frustrated that he had to come out because of that. But, hey, he understands completely.”

That Wilson gave Woo a chance to finish the sixth is further indication of just how far the young right-hander has come over the past year.

“He’s earned that,” Wilson said.

A first-time All-Star this summer, Woo has become the backbone of the starting staff, and if the Mariners find themselves in position a month from now to make plans for a playoff series, there’s little question Woo would be the choice to start Game 1.

“Bryan has had an incredible season,” Wilson said. “… The thing that he does, and did today, so well is he gets in really good counts. He attacks the zone, he attacks the zone with his good stuff, and he gets in good counts.”

Woo was an out away from extending his streak when veteran infielder Jose Iglesias hit a weak chopper – a swinging bunt – toward the third-base line. Woo hustled off the mound and fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw to first base was just a touch late.

Given a do-over, Woo probably would have been a little quicker is his fielding transition or bare-handed the ball off the grass.

“It was do or die,” Woo said. “I definitely wanted that one. … I’m going to be watching that inning for a little bit now.”

After being pulled, Woo acknowledged a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,600 as he made the slow walk back to the dugout. He then went into the Mariners clubhouse to, in his words, blow off some steam.

Woo’s final line: 5.2 innings, six hits, two runs, one walk, six strikeouts.

In five August starts, Woo threw 31.2 innings and posted a 2.27 ERA, with a 39-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

With the bases loaded, the first pitch from M’s lefty Gabe Speier hit Jake Cronenworth in the left arm as the Padres’ left-hander showed bunt. The hit-by-pitch brought in a run to close the Mariners’ lead to 4-2.

Speier stranded the bases loaded when the got the next batter, Padres’ No. 9 hitter Felix Fermin, to swing through a 2-2 slider to end the inning.

Woo’s final line: 5.2 innings, six hits, two runs, one walk, six strikeouts.

In five August starts, Woo threw 31.2 innings and posted a 2.27 ERA, with a 39-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Suárez, the popular third baseman reacquired at the trade deadline, hit his fifth home run in 25 games back with the Mariners.

In the first 23 games of his second stint with the M’s, Suárez hit .169 with four homers, a 33.7% strikeout rate and a 70 wRC+ (100 is average).

He’s heating up now.

On Tuesday night, he hit a three-run homer off Padres reliever Jason Adam to give the Mariners a short-lived lead.

In the fourth inning Wednesday, with Julio Rodriguez at third, Josh Naylor at first and no outs, Suárez hit a towering blast on a first-pitch cutter from Padres starter Yu Darvish.

Suárez has 42 home run and his 104 runs batted in match his career high from 2018.

Luke Raley turned on a 71-mph curveball from Darvish and doubled into the right-center gap with two outs in the second inning, driving in Suárez from second for the game’s first run.

Suárez had singled and stole second, his fourth stolen base of the season.

Matt Brash pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Eduard Bazardo, pitching for the third straight day in this series, worked a scoreless eighth inning out the M’s bullpen. He got Ryan O’Hearn and Xander Bogaerts looking at 97-mph sinkers, and got Gavin Sheets to ground out weakly.

“We have leaned on him hard,” Wilson said of Bazardo, “and he has just delivered.”

Andrés Muñoz surrendered a two-out double to Fernando Tatis to cut the Mariners’ lead to 4-3 in the ninth inning, but he got Ramon Laureano to ground out to Suárez to end it. It was Muñoz 31st save.

The Mariners won four of six on the homestand and went 5-1 against the Padres this season in the first formal rendition of the Vedder Cup series.

The Mariners will fly out tonight to embark on a nine-game, 10-day East Coast trip through Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Atlanta.