SEATTLE -- Bryan Woo sat dejected and approaching disgust when dissecting what was, other than one shaky inning, a superb outing.
But such are the standards that the Mariners’ electric right-hander holds himself to. And after a 6-5 loss to the Guardians in the 10th inning on Saturday night -- well after he departed -- it was not the beginning to the season that Woo had wanted.
"I’ve got to do a better job of keeping teams down when they’re down,” Woo said.
Woo walked No. 9 batter Brayan Rocchio to lead off the sixth inning. After recording two outs, he was beaten by José Ramírez in a 3-1 count for an RBI double into the right-field corner. That led to a mound visit from pitching coach Pete Woodworth, after which Woo gave up a game-tying single to Kyle Manzardo on his very next pitch.
The Mariners -- who had little going at the plate until reaching crunch time -- wouldn’t lead again.
Bullpen management at a surface level looked questionable in specific pockets, though manager Dan Wilson revealed postgame, without going into specifics, that he was operating with a limited staff. The irony was that Wilson eventually did reach his highest-leverage reliever, Andrés Muñoz, and the two-time All-Star was on the hook for the loss when surrendering a two-run home run to red-hot rookie Chase DeLauter shortly upon entering in the 10th.
That wound up being the ballgame.
"There were a couple guys that obviously needed a little bit of rest,” Wilson said. “And so you have to, again, weigh all those odds, all those factors especially here early in the season and understanding that it's a long year.”
Luke Raley made it interesting with his third homer in as many days, a two-run blast that cut Cleveland’s lead to one. And Julio Rodríguez got off a mini schneid by tying the game at 3-3 in the ninth, when Seattle was down to its final strike and out. It was his first hit of the season after beginning 0-for-10.
But those efforts, while valiant, proved to be too little too late.
DeLauter’s knock was a dramatic display for well beyond the fact that it was his fourth of the series, and that these are the first regular-season games for MLB Pipeline’s No. 45 overall prospect. It was also for the sheer power to connect on the 96.6 mph fastball way up and out of the zone and punch it a projected 365 feet over the opposite-field fence.
"That’s an elite pitcher, an elite fastball,” Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan said. “To be able to do it, especially here with the wind blowing in, a really big fence out in left, it's as talented as you can be. To execute it too, to have the hand-eye and all that, it's still so impressive."
Essentially, Woo's outing might’ve been a culprit in the defeat -- but if so, his was a small role.
Until Rodríguez broke through, set up by a leadoff double from Cole Young, the Mariners had just two runs and were playing at least one arm short in their bullpen.
After Woo departed, Eduard Bazardo generated two quick outs to begin the sixth, but he then walked the Nos. 8-9 hitters and surrendered a go-ahead single to Kwan. That knock came while Gabe Speier was hot, and Speier did enter immediately after. But again, it seemed like another sequence of too little too late.
"'Zardo is a guy that we really trust,” Wilson said, “and Kwan was just able to flip that ball to left field and get the big hit. You're hoping you can get him through there, and then Gabe has got the next inning. But it just was one of those tough ones tonight.”
Speier has held Kwan 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in their brief career matchups, but it was also evident that Wilson preferred to hold him for a clean seventh. Maybe it’s because Jose A. Ferrer was unavailable, because the new leverage lefty seemed primed to pitch in this one given the seven lefties in Cleveland’s starting lineup.
The Mariners also prefer to stay clear of Matt Brash on consecutive days, at least early, and he pitched Saturday. And now Muñoz will be down for the series finale, having pitched in back-to-back games. The club is also without Carlos Vargas, who suffered a right lat strain on Thursday and was placed on the 15-day injured list.
Navigating bullpen usage is like steering a season-long ship. But ideally, the Mariners wouldn’t have had to face as many such challenges before their first weekend was through.