Woo keeps D-backs quiet, Mariners cruise to 5-1 win

SEATTLE – Good, clean, fun baseball.

Yes, we’re talking about the 2026 Seattle Mariners.

Bryan Woo remained unbeaten – and nearly untouchable – in another stellar start at home, Julio Rodríguez and Luke Raley continued to clobber baseballs, and the Mariners won their fifth straight game with a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night before a crowd of 44,364 at T-Mobile Park.

Dom Canzone and rookie Colt Emerson also homered to help build an early 4-0 lead, and a seesaw start to the season has morphed into a buzzsaw for the Mariners (30-29), who surged above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 on March 30, exactly two months ago.

The feel-good vibes continued when star catcher Cal Raleigh made a surprise appearance in the dugout before the start of the sixth inning.

Raleigh, who has been rehabbing an oblique injury at the team’s facility in Arizona, was greeted with hugs from teammates and coaches. The club has not put a timeline on Raleigh’s return, but he’s expected to remain on the injured list for about two more weeks.

The early run support proved plenty for Woo.

In his sixth home start of the season, Woo allowed just two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings.

He’s 4-0 with 2.37 ERA at T-Mobile Park this season, having allowed just 10 runs on 21 hits in 38 innings, with a 43-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Woo retired the first 13 batters of the game before Adrian Del Castillo singled with one out in the fifth inning. Ildemaro Vargas singled two batters later, but Woo struck out Jose Fernandez to end the inning.

Woo then retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh innings, getting three straight weak ground balls to wrap up one of the best nights of his career.

This was the fifth time in his career he’s thrown seven scoreless innings. He allowed one hit over seven scoreless at the Angels on April 3.

Raley continued his torrid May with his team-leading 13th homer out to right field in the second inning off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson. It was his eighth of the month; he also homered in the Mariners’ 7-6 walkoff win on Friday night.

Canzone followed with his sixth homer of the season in the second inning to make it 2-0.

In the third, Emerson turned on a fastball and sent it 365 feet out to right field for his second big-league homer in this 12th game with the Mariners.

Emerson knew it was gone right away and he celebrated with a little bat flip as he turned toward the home dugout.

Two batters later, Rodríguez hit his 10th homer of the month and 12th of the season. It was a majestic blast to straightaway center field, 107.9 mph off the bat and 418 feet out, to continue the best start to any season of his career.

Sloan dazzles in Arkansas

Best one-two tandem in minor-league baseball?

It’s hard to argue with the results for the Mariners’ top pitching prospects.

One night after Kade Anderson posted another dazzling start for Double-A Arkansas, Ryan Sloan followed with an even better one Saturday.

Sloan, a 20-year-old right-hander, threw six perfect innings against the Frisco RoughRiders in North Little Rock, allowing no runs, no hits, no walks with no errors. He struck out 11.

Sloan was pulled after throwing 61 pitches (46 strikes).

The six innings worked is a career high for Sloan, the Mariners’ second-round pick in 2024 out of York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Sloan threw a season-high 74 pitches in an April 18 start.

Anderson, a 21-year-old left-hander, allowed just two hits in 5 ⅓ scoreless innings on Friday night, with no walks and nine strikeouts. The No. 3 overall pick in last summer’s draft, Anderson has a 1.43 ERA in his first nine pro starts.

Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Anderson (No. 4) and Sloan (No. 8) among the 10 best prospects in baseball.