Woo Earns First Major League Victory Thursday at Yankee Stadium
6/22/2023 7:34:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Former Cal Poly pitcher Bryan Woo earned his first Major League victory Thursday night inside Yankee Stadium, tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the Seattle Mariners' 10-2 victory over the New York Yankees.
Woo (1-1), who struck out five and walked three, did not allow a hit until there was one out in the sixth. His ERA dropped from 7.30 to 5.09 and his fastball was consistently clocked from 95-97 mph.
"Credit to Woo," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "That heater's real. He was tough."
For the season, Woo has walked just five batters while striking out 25. The strikeout total is No. 3 in Mariners history for pitchers in their first four career starts and Woo threw 93 pitches Thursday, including first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 21 batters he faced.
The Mariners scored 10 times in the first five innings and breezed to the win, salvaging one victory in the three-game series against the Yankees.
"It was nice to give Bryan Woo a little working room out there," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "It's his first time, obviously, pitching in this stadium, and his fourth career start. They took a lot of pitches, they made him work, as I figured they would, but another excellent outing by him."
Relying mostly on his riding four-seam fastball and sinking two-seamer, Woo didn't allow a hit until Gleyber Torres looped a single into right field with one out in the sixth.
"I was kind of disappointed just to see it fall," Woo told the Seattle Times. "The first hit that I gave up, it was unfortunate. It wasn't a barrel. I made a good pitch and he put a good swing on it. It is what it is."
Anthony Rizzo followed with a single off the top of the wall in right field that missed being a homer by inches, ending Woo's day on the mound. Ty Adcock relieved Woo with runners at first and third and induced Giancarlo Stanton to ground into an inning-ending double play.
"It's hard to ignore (the no-hitter), but at the same time I'm really just focused on one pitch," Woo added. "If I can execute one pitch at a time, the rest will take care of itself."
The last two were no-decisions. Woo struck out nine White Sox and seven Angels.
The Mariners belted four home runs and took advantage of three Yankee errors in the victory. Trailing 10-0, the Yankees averted a shutout with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Selected in the sixth round by the Mariners in the 2021 MLB Draft, Woo did not pitch professionally in the summer of 2021 as he was still recovering from an arm injury suffered in the Long Beach State series in April.
The Alameda High School graduate pitched for the Mariners' Arizona Complex League team (Rookie League), the Modesto Nuts (California League) and Everett AquaSox (Northwest League) in 2022, combining for a 1-4 win-loss record, 4.11 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 57 innings.
Woo pitched for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers in the Double-A Texas League this spring, going 3-2 with a 2.05 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 44 innings before Seattle called him up in early June, becoming the 22nd former Mustang to play in the Major Leagues and the 13th coached by Larry Lee.
At Cal Poly in 2021, Woo was 2-2 with a 6.11 ERA in 10 appearances on the mound, including two starts. His last appearance in a Mustang uniform was on April 11, 2021, at Blair Field in Long Beach and he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Bryce Warrecker, striking out a career-high eight Dirtbags with no walks and three hits.
Woo left the game with two outs in the ninth inning, suffering from an arm injury that required surgery. Kyle Scott came out of the bullpen and threw one pitch for the final out, a line drive to third base.
Despite the injury, Woo was the 174th overall pick by Seattle in the 2021 MLB Draft and signed for $318,200.
Photo courtesy of Seattle Mariners
