Bryan Woo's near-perfect night ends in frustration after Fernando Tatis Jr. homer: "I wanted to finish the job"
Bryan Woo pitched six innings of a perfect game on Wednesday before the San Diego Padres lineup finally got to him. In an impressive showing, the Seattle Mariners pitcher ended his night with 6.2 innings of two-run ball that helped his team seal a 5-2 win over its NL West opponents.
Woo retired 18 batters in a row heading into the seventh inning. He got Luis Arraez popped out to shortstop for the first out before Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a solo home run to left field to get the Padres on the board. Things didn't pick up anymore for Woo as Jurickson Profar hit a double, and one at-bat later, he walked Jake Cronenworth.
Needing to protect the five-run lead the Mariners had before the innings began, Dan Wilson took the ball from the 24-year-old. After the game, the starter voiced his frustration about not completing his perfect outing.
“You're obviously frustrated as a competitor,” Woo said. “Like, you know what you're doing is special, if you just kind of stay in the moment. And credit to them. I mean, they put some good swings on some good pitches. And it is what it is. It's more just me wanting to finish the job, at least finish that inning.”
Bryan Woo improved to an 8-2 record this season on 105.2 innings pitched. He has a brilliant 2.38 record with 82 strikeouts, five of which came on Wednesday night.
Fernando Tatis Jr. appreciates Bryan Woo's strong performance
Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. praised Bryan Woo for his efforts. After the game, the 25-year-old complimented the pitcher for commanding the strike zone with his fastballs and keeping up the consistency throughout at the mound.
“The guy has really good stuff. He was pounding the zone. His fastball was really alive, and he was making good pitches all the way from the beginning," Tatis said.
With the win, the Ms now have a 74-72 record, leaving them just 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros in first place in the AL West. Meanwhile, San Diego has an 82-65 record but is still behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League.