Mariners swept by Yankees as late collapse spoils Bryan Woo’s gem

NEW YORK – A day before one of the best pitching performances of his career, Bryan Woo stopped in the visiting dugout of Yankee Stadium for a chat.

He talked about his season to date and his consistency. He mentioned his All-Star selection and having to buy an expensive suit on the off-day in Manhattan to wear during the festivities in Atlanta. He said he hoped to pitch Tuesday in his first All-Star trip.

And he added the enjoyment he gets out of pitching in the Bronx.

For a while on Thursday night, Woo flirted with something historic in a building where doing something historic is never forgotten. For seven innings, Woo kept the Yankees without a hit and the only base runners that reached were a pair of walks to the first two batters of the game.

And for all that effort from their starting pitcher, it all ended in a loss for the Mariners as the Yankees rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings after Seattle’s two best relievers were unable to protect what Woo started.

“Just an outstanding outing for Bryan. Just an incredible outing,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said.

But at the end of the night, it was the M’s leaving the Bronx after getting swept on the road for the second time in the past 30 days. What should have been an easy close out with Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz lined up and rested instead became a collapse.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Brash in the eighth inning, and the Yankees scored a pair off Muñoz during an erratic ninth inning when it was clear the Yankees recognized what Muñoz was throwing and were relaying signs from second base.

“Obviously, they weren’t making it very discreet, I guess is the word, but it is part of the game,” M’s catcher Cal Raleigh said. “It’s our job. We have to know about that going into series, and yeah, I mean that made it really hard there at the end.”

It was Austin Wells who delivered the game-tying blow, one pitch after home-plate umpire Nic Lentz called a ball on what appeared to be strike three. Wells hit a two-out, two-run single that pulled the Yankees even at 5.

In the 10th, the M’s didn’t score and Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly scored Anthony Volpe with the winning run as he swam around Raleigh’s tag attempt at the plate.

“He did the swim move,” Raleigh said. “It’s the second time in the last week that’s happened. So I got to get a little more extension with the tag and just know that guys are going to do that swim move because we have to obviously give them the line there with the base running rule.”

It was a deflating gut-punch on a night when Woo pitched like an ace and deserved a better outcome. Woo was unavailable to speak after the game due to a family situation.

Woo’s hopes of history ended when Jazz Chisholm Jr. pulled a 1-2 pitch into right field to lead off the eighth inning. Woo jogged over to protectively cover first base in case Luke Raley or Cole Young could make a play. They couldn’t, and Woo gave Chisholm a tap on the backside as they crossed paths.

Woo eventually allowed a run as Ben Rice followed with a single and Wells hit a sacrifice fly. And he was tagged with another run on Stanton’s shot to right-center field off Brash, the first homer the reliever has allowed this season.

They were the first runs Woo allowed in three career starts at Yankee Stadium after keeping New York scoreless for his first 17 innings there.

Until that point, he was unhitable. He threw almost exclusively his four-seam fastball and the Yankees couldn’t touch it. Only one ball put in play by New York off Woo had an exit velocity of over 100 mph – 100.4 mph to be exact.

This wasn’t Woo overpowering with pure strikeouts. It was dominating via precision.

“It’s a combination of he’s got really good stuff, he can locate really well, super efficient on the mound,” Raleigh said. “He’s able to miss barrels. The ball just seems to shift off the barrel both ways – off the end and off the handle a little bit.”

The late runs put a damper on Woo’s final stat line. He pitched a career-high 71/3 innings. He’s 18 for 18 this season and has pitched at least six innings in every start, the only pitcher in baseball to have that kind of streak.

He allowed two hits and two runs and struck out five, which will often be a winning combination, especially in Yankee Stadium. He had some offensive support thanks to RBI singles from Cole Young and Miles Mastrobuoni early, and Jorge Polanco’s three-run homer in the sixth inning to give the M’s a 5-0 lead.

But this time, it wasn’t a winning combo. The Yankees became the second team in the expansion era (since 1961) to go hitless in the first seven innings, trail by at least five runs and come back to win.

The last time it happened: June 24, 1977 by the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the Montreal Expos.

Muñoz’s problems started when Grisham singled leading off the ninth. He took care of Judge, but Cody Bellinger’s single only increased the pressure. Chisholm flew out, but Muñoz couldn’t consistently land his slider and walked Rice to load the bases.

Wells then made sure there would be extra baseball when he lined a 3-2 fastball into right field.

“Just couldn’t find that feel for the slider early. It was kind of around the zone, wasn’t necessarily locating as well as usual,” Raleigh said.

In the 10th, Gabe Speier intentionally walked Paul Goldschmidt then unintentionally walked Grisham to load the bases for Judge. Judge hit a fly ball to center field that was just deep enough. Julio Rodríguez made a great throw to the plate, but Volpe was able to maneuver his hand around Raleigh’s tag and complete the sweep for the Yankees.

It’s just a tough way to lose there and get walked off here, in this ballpark,” Wilson said. “We got to regroup, which we do, and we got to come out tomorrow ready to go in Detroit.”

They better be ready. The starter on Friday night for the Tigers: reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.