Win overshadows nostalgia as Mariners prepare for A's again

Bryan Woo was raised in Alameda, Calif., so he took particular interest when the Oakland Athletics played their final game at the Coliseum on Thursday before they embark on a three-year layover in Sacramento en route to their planned new home in Las Vegas.

"I've got a lot of friends that were there (Thursday) and saw a lot of stuff on social media," the Seattle Mariners' right-hander said. "It was pretty cool to see how many people showed up (46,889). I've said it before, but it's unfortunate what happened.

"And for me personally, so many memories there. And I know it's the same for countless others, people that grew up enjoying baseball there, learning baseball there. I'm definitely glad they were able to go out on a win and a positive note, I think it means a lot to the city and the fan base."

Woo wasn't nearly as nostalgic Friday, throwing five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in a 2-0 victory against Oakland.

The season-ending, three-game series between American League West rivals will continue Saturday night in Seattle.

Woo and relievers Gabe Speier, Gregory Santos, Tayler Saucedo and Troy Taylor combined on a five-hitter with 14 strikeouts.

Woo improved to 3-0 with an 0.57 ERA in six career starts against the A's.

"We can't figure him out. Going into next season, we're going to have to make adjustments against this kid," A's manager Mark Kotsay said. "He had our number again tonight, eight punchouts."

Mitch Garver and Cal Raleigh hit solo homers for the Mariners on Friday. Raleigh's homer was his 32nd of the season and gave him 97 RBIs, the most of the team in both categories by a wide margin.

Despite Seattle (83-77) being eliminated from postseason contention Thursday, a crowd of 41,429 showed up for the opener of the final series.

"These last three games, you know, I don't think anything's shifted all that much," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. "To be honest, I think our focus is to win these three games. They're just as important as the other ones. It doesn't have the playoff carrot at the end. But this is what we're about. We want to win."

The Mariners are scheduled to start right-hander Emerson Hancock (4-4, 4.72 ERA) on Saturday. Hancock most recently pitched last Saturday, giving up two runs and five hits over five innings in an 8-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Hancock has never faced the A's, who are scheduled to send right-hander Joey Estes (7-9, 4.99) to the mound on Saturday.

Estes' first two major league victories came this season against the Mariners. Estes, who lost his major league debut to Seattle last September, is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against the Mariners.

He beat them 8-1 on May 11 in Seattle for his first victory, giving up just two hits and one run over five innings. Estes was even better June 5 in Oakland, allowing the Mariners one hit over 6 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory.

He suffered a 6-4 loss to Seattle on Sept. 5 at home, when he gave up four runs on six hits in four innings.

That loss to Seattle led to an inconsistent final month for Estes. He has dropped his past two starts, allowing 11 runs on 16 hits over a combined five innings. That includes a 7-4 defeat to the New York Yankees on Sunday in his final start at the Coliseum before the A's (69-91) relocate.

--Field Level Media