SEATTLE -- One formula for the Mariners to turn things around seems fairly simple: When Bryan Woo is pitching like an ace, they need to find a way to win.
Such was the case on Sunday, when Woo was backed by homers from Rob Refsnyder, J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena, cruised through seven innings of two-run ball and, until late, flirted with a Maddux.
Better than all that, in Woo’s eyes, was that the Mariners ran away to a 5-2, series-clinching win over the Rangers, who are the early favorites to give them the most fits in the American League West.
“You could see a little more determination on his face today,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Woo was dominant from the get-go and on pace to throw a complete-game shutout in under 100 pitches -- the criteria now named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux -- before running into his only traffic in the seventh. The Rangers wound up tagging him for two runs in that frame, capitalizing on a leadoff walk from Corey Seager.
That wound up being the end of his day, after 85 pitches, as Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz locked things down.
Yet, Woo still wasn’t satisfied with the outing because of how it ended and said that he’d “give myself tonight to be pissed off” about it.
“It's just the concept of keeping teams down when they're down,” Woo said. “Not giving them any life when we got a lead, and I'm going out for whatever it is later in the game -- not letting them have any momentum. Not letting them breathe in any way.”
Those end-of-the-line frustrations were personified when Woo shouted into his glove upon walking off the mound.
“You give up the two there, and then it's like, the at-bats for the next inning for Gabe are just more stressful,” Woo said. “And there's no need for that if I just do my job. So, yeah, I'm still beating myself up over it.”
Woo is tied with Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez and Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal for the most quality starts (25) since the start of last season. No longer is he one of the most promising right-handers in the American League; he’s one of the best.
And he’s in this position because of this supreme self-accountability. It’s what works for him.
This entire persona was summarized by Refsnyder, who is almost 10 years older than Woo, recalling an early Spring Training get-together when he first met Woo.
“Just very determined from last year,” recalled Refsnyder, whose homer snapped an 0-for-18 start to the season and his Mariners tenure. “He had the goals in mind and where he wanted the team to be. And I don't know exactly how old Bryan is, but he's a lot younger than I am. But just to have that quiet confidence -- but also in that moment, be a leader amongst men -- was pretty cool.”
Other than the seventh, -- and despite Woo shouting into his glove in frustration -- Woo was nails -- as he’s been all season. It’s just that his ‘26 ledger hasn’t exactly shown it.
A lack of run support plagued the Mariners over Woo’s first four starts. He carries a team-best 2.25 ERA, but Seattle had gone just 1-3 behind him before Sunday, primarily due to the nine total runs from their offense in those games, including just one combined over his previous two.
When Woo was actually on the mound, it was just three runs in that stretch, for an average of 1.08 runs per nine innings, which was the sport’s second-lowest among 74 qualified pitchers. And again, that didn’t stop Woo from shouldering blame in those defeats, notably in a 6-5 loss to the Guardians on March 28 and a 4-1 defeat in San Diego on Tuesday.
“It's much healthier, I think, it's easier to show up every day knowing that each guy has got each other's back offensively, defensively,” Woo said. “It’s just much more consistent that way.”
All that’s to say that homers from Refsnyder and Crawford on Sunday -- the first for each in 2026 -- through the first two innings was a welcome development. Arozarena’s big blast in the fifth was a punctuating shot, marking the first time that the Mariners have pulled off a home-run hat trick since hitting four on Opening Day.
And therein, too, lies another simple formula conducive to winning. Last year, the Mariners homered three or more times in 34 games -- behind only the Yankees’ 42 -- and went 28-6 in those contests.