Mariners starter Bryan Woo looks to continue dominance of A's

Bryan Woo has dominated the Athletics no matter which city the franchise calls home.

The Oakland native will face the Athletics in West Sacramento for the initial time when his Seattle Mariners close a three-game series against the American League West rival on Wednesday afternoon.

Woo is 6-0 with a 0.72 ERA in seven career starts against the Athletics. He has allowed just three runs in 37 1/3 innings versus the club.

In the opening series of the season, the right-handed Woo defeated the Athletics in Seattle by allowing just one run and three hits over six innings of a 2-1 victory.

Though the Athletics were located in Oakland throughout his youth, Woo was a fan of the San Francisco Giants, the team across the bay.

But with Sacramento located just 80 miles away from the East Bay, Woo will still be able to have a vocal cheering section of family and friends.

Woo (4-1, 2.58 ERA) has performed well no matter where he's pitched this season. He has struck out 38 and walked just seven in 38 1/3 innings over six starts.

Woo, 25, has allowed just four total hits while winning his last two outings. He struck out eight in each of them.

Woo allowed two runs and three hits in six innings while beating the Boston Red Sox on April 24. He followed up last Friday by limiting the Texas Rangers to one hit over 6 1/3 scoreless frames.

Brent Rooker is just 1-for-14 against Woo but the hit was a solo homer. Tyler Soderstrom (3-for-10) also has gone deep against Woo but Lawrence Butler is just 1-for-13 against Woo.

The teams split the first two games of the series. The Athletics won 7-6 in 11 innings on Monday before Seattle struck late for a 5-3 victory on Tuesday.

The Mariners scored three runs in the ninth to grab Tuesday's contest. Seattle star Cal Raleigh came off the bench to deliver a two-run, pinch-hit single in the ninth to give the Mariners the lead.

Interestingly, the Mariners were trying to get Raleigh his first day off of the season.

But in the middle innings and the score tied, Raleigh headed out to the batting cage behind the outfield fence to start preparing for a possible late-game at-bat.

"I've come off the bench before. You always know there's a chance you can possibly get in," Raleigh said afterward.

But there was no rust evident after Raleigh smoked Tyler Ferguson's pitch into right field. It was Seattle's lone hit in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

"What really set me up was laying off those tough pitches the first few," Raleigh said. "From there, I was able to look for a heater and adjust from there."

Rooker had three hits, two runs, two steals and one RBI and Soderstrom also had three hits for the Athletics, who lost for just the fourth time in the past 14 games.

Miguel Andujar had two hits and two RBIs, including a single in the eighth inning that gave the Athletics a 3-2 lead.

Athletics closer Mason Miller had the night off so Ferguson was called on to protect the lead but failed to come through.

Right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1-0, 1.50) will be making his second major league start for the Athletics.

Hoglund, 25, defeated the Miami Marlins in his debut last Friday when he gave up one run and six hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked none.

"He came right out and attacked," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "And any time you get a guy that can go six innings in a game and have a quality start the first time out, that's pretty impressive."

--Field Level Media