By Paul L. Taylor Posted on

Mariners lean heavily on Bryan Woo in historic 3-1 win vs. Angels

The Mariners need extra innings to ruin the Angels’ home opener, as Bryan Woo reminds everyone why he was the staff ace last season.

Scoring was hard for the Mariners to come by during the Yankees series, with just a combined five runs in three games. This challenge continued into Friday night in Anaheim, as they entered extra innings tied at 0-0 with an Angels team playing in their home opener.

Fortunately for the Mariners, Cole Young continued his tremendous start to the season as he hit a lead-off triple which was almost a home run, to bring home Luke Raley for the first score of the night. Young’s offseason strength and conditioning program is paying dividends so far, as he’s developed into a tough out and batting .310 with a .885 OPS.

Josh Naylor followed this up with his second hit of the game, a crucial two-out two-RBI single that increased the lead to 3-0 and made the difference as the Angels only managed one run in the bottom of the 10th to lose 3-1. Naylor needed an outing like this after entering the night with just one hit through the first seven games of the season.

However, make no mistake that it was the pitching staff who won this one for the Mariners as they put together a performance for the ages, with this being the first time in franchise history they allowed one-or-fewer hits in an extra-innings game. This is also just the 30th time any Major League team has achieved the feat since at least 1900, to reinforce just how special the collective effort was.

Bryan Woo already looks in prime 2025 form for the Mariners

It should come as no surprise that Bryan Woo starred for the Mariners, with him showing signs early on in 2026 that he’s going to be the staff ace again. (Which is saying something about him, given the overall talent in this rotation.) He gave a pitching masterclass on Friday night in Ahaheim, as he allowed just one hit — a wind-affected bloop single mind — a hit-by-pitch and one walk in seven shutout innings.

Woo had looked really strong in his first start of the season versus the Guardians, but was frustrated with himself after slipping a bit in the sixth inning and being tagged for two runs. As much as he wasn’t to blame for the eventual 6-5 loss in 10 innings, he was still rough on himself due to the two runs proving decisive.

This mentality also alludes to the high demands Woo puts on himself overall, with him still not entirely satisfied with his performance against the Angels. He said:

“I still didn’t feel like my sharpest, but that’s what I keep talking about, raising the floor just the days that you don’t feel like you have it or have your best stuff. Still figuring out how to get through it and make the most out of those days. So, I feel like I did a better job with that.”

It truly is a fascinating insight into the mindset Woo has, and explains a lot about why he continues to be successful even if he doesn’t entirely feel as if he has been. No matter, this is now his third start of at least 7.0 innings and one-or-fewer hits since the beginning of last season, which is tied for the most in the Majors during that span along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers.

The only Angels player who really caused Woo any problems was Mike Trout, as he was the recipient of the aforementioned hit-by-pitch and walk, in the first and fourth innings respectively. Trout was initially angry with the hit-by-pitch (and understandably so), but the three-time AL MVP revealed afterwards that the righty did apologize to him about the incident.

Bryan Woo and Dan Wilson give Cal Raleigh his flowers

As ultra-competitive as Woo is in always demanding better of himself, he’s equally all about the team, as highlighted by his decision to turn down an invite to pitch for Team USA in the WBC and focus on the Mariners. This team-first attitude was on display again on Friday night as he made a point of complimenting Cal Raleigh for the game he called behind the plate.

The 2025 All-Star also credited Raleigh for how he always seems to know what to say and do when things seem to be going a bit awry, case in point being after the lead-off walk to Trout in the bottom of the fourth. He said:

“He asked me what I was feeling, what I got. He said I’ve just got to be better. There’s some times where it’s slowing you down. There’s some times where it’s kind of got to get going a  little bit, energy-wise and focus-wise. I think he does a really good job of noticing it before things start to get out of hand and just kind of regrouping.”

Mariners manager Dan Wilson was full of praise for Woo’s outing on the night, while also acknowledging how Raleigh helped him out. Wilson said:

“Bryan Woo just threw the lights out of it again tonight. Just again, a really good fastball. Used his secondary as well. I credit Cal quite a bit tonight. A couple of nice mound visits to kind of shake up where the routine was going. I thought it was very well-timed and got Bryan Woo back on track.”

Mariners relievers get the job done in style

Matt Brash took over from Woo in the bottom of the eighth and threw a clean inning which included two strikeouts. Brash has himself started 2026 in dominant fashion, allowing just two combined hits and no walks in three scoreless innings, as he looks to build on last season’s career year.

Then it was over to Andrés Muñoz in the bottom of the ninth, looking to bounce back from his ugly two-hit, three-run outing in the aforementioned 6-5 extra innings loss to the Guardians. And he responded in style as he secured three straight outs, concluding with a three-pitch strikeout of Trout to take the game to extra innings and set the stage for Young and Naylor to deliver.

Following the duo’s heroics, Gabe Speier came in and while he did give up a sacrifice fly RBI to Jorge Soler, did what was required to secure the save. Speaking about the pitching as a whole, Wilson said:

“They were tough, and the one hit that we did allow was kind of a windblown blooper to right field. I mean these guys were, from Woo handing it to Brash, to Mooney, and then to Gabe. All three of them were just solid and sometimes when you’re not scoring a lot of runs, you need your pitchers to step up. And they have done that for sure.”

The biggest negative of the night was Brendan Donovan having to leave the game in the seventh inning, after landing awkwardly on first base while attempting to leg out an infield single. The Mariners will of course be hoping it’s nothing serious, but expect them to be cautious with their major offseason trade acquisition.

The Mariners will look to clinch the series on Saturday night, with Emerson Hancock taking the mound and the Angels countering with Jack Kochanowicz. Hancock was dominant in his first start of the season against the Guardians, while Kochanowicz had a nightmare versus the Astros as he allowed four hits, five walks and six runs (five earned) in 4.0 innings of a 9-7 loss.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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