Mariners Bryan Woo doesn't want to give teams 'any life' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Seattle Mariners won the series against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, thanks to a masterful pitching performance by right-hander Bryan Woo. Woo gave the Mariners seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs, a walk, and striking out six.
Despite pitching like an ace, Woo wasn’t happy about letting up the two runs, which came in his final inning of work in the 5-2 victory over the Rangers.
“It's just the concept of keeping teams down when they're down,” Woo said to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. “Not giving them any life when we got a lead, and I'm going out for whatever it is later in the game -- not letting them have any momentum. Not letting them breathe in any way.”
“You give up the two there, and then it's like, the at-bats for the next inning for Gabe are just more stressful,” Woo said. “And there's no need for that if I just do my job. So, yeah, I'm still beating myself up over it.”
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Woo has done well to suppress other teams, allowing eight earned runs in 32.0 innings, while not allowing a home run against him. The All-Star right-hander has also done well not to walk batters, with six on the season, and has a 4.9% walk rate.
Woo has emerged as one of the top arms in the American League, but Major League Baseball as well. According to Kramer, since last season, Woo is tied with two-time Cy Young Award winner, left-hander Tarik Skubal, and runner-up to the National League Cy Young Award last season, left-hander Cristopher Sanchez, for the most quality starts (25).
Despite Woo’s criticism of himself, he is pitching like an ace. Given how he has been pitching, Woo could expect another invitation to join the All-Star game in Philadelphia this summer. Woo is 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA.
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