SEATTLE — Based on how his warmup went, Bryan Woo was uncertain what kind of outing he was going to have.
He ended up flirting with perfection.
“I didn’t feel great in catch. I didn’t feel great in the bullpen, just kind of all over the place. And then you get out there and it just clicks,” the Seattle pitcher said.
Woo took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Luke Raley had a two-run single and the Mariners beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Wednesday night.
J.P. Crawford added a two-run double as Seattle moved within 3 1/2 games of first-place Houston in the AL West by splitting a two-game series with the Padres.
Woo (8-2) retired his first 19 batters before Fernando Tatis Jr. lined a home run to left field with one out in the seventh. The right-hander’s fastball caught too much of the plate and Tatis was able to keep it fair down the line to end the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout with one swing.
“It was a good pitch, good swing. Tip your cap,” Woo said.
Until that point, Woo was overpowering. Wearing specially designed shoes that included the image of wrestling star Ric Flair, the second-year pitcher relied on his fastball at the top of the strike zone to overpower the Padres.
Through six innings, Woo struck out four and never went to a three-ball count. The closest San Diego came to a hit was Manny Machado’s line drive that was caught by diving left fielder Randy Arozarena.
“His arm slot, the ball is jumping. He’s got a nice, compact delivery, has an upshoot heater and the ball was getting to guys,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Woo was pulled in the seventh after giving up a double to Jurickson Profar and walking Jake Cronenworth. Xander Bogaerts hit an RBI single to score Profar, but the Mariners escaped further damage.
Andrés Muñoz worked the ninth for his 20th save.
“What they do offensively is difficult and I think after about the first and second inning you could tell something special was happening. He had really good stuff,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Woo pitched with a lead most of the night after Seattle scored three times in the third thanks in part to an error by Cronenworth, who dropped a potential double-play ball at second base. Cal Raleigh had an RBI single and Raley drove in a pair with a two-out base hit.
In the sixth, Crawford provided some cushion by driving a 3-2 pitch into the right-field corner to score Raley and Justin Turner.
Seattle nearly added on in the seventh, but Tatis robbed Arozarena of a homer with a leaping catch at the wall in right field. Tatis said he was hoping to rob Julio Rodríguez after the young Mariners star took one away from him last year.
“I said, ‘I wanted Julio, but I’m sorry, it was your turn,’” Tatis said.
San Diego starter Michael King (12-9) threw five innings and allowed only one earned run. He struck out six but lost for the third time in four starts.
ROSTER MOVES
San Diego catcher Luis Campusano was optioned to Triple-A El Paso due to a lack of playing time in the majors. Campusano, who was San Diego’s opening day catcher, was stuck behind Kyle Higashioka and Elias Díaz. Outfielder Brandon Lockridge and LHP Tom Cosgrove were recalled from the minors. LHP Martin Perez was placed on the paternity list.
UP NEXT
Padres: After an off day, San Diego opens a three-game series Friday in San Francisco.
Mariners: Begin a four-game series with Texas on Thursday. Bryce Miller (11-8, 3.18 ERA) will start the opener after throwing six shutout innings in his last start.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
