SEATTLE — The presumption around the Pacific Northwest was Bryan Woo would return from a pectoral strain to start Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Friday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays.
That won’t be the case.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson announced Thursday night that Bryce Miller, who won Game 1 in Toronto, would return to the mound instead with the best-of-seven series tied at two games apiece after the Blue Jays won 8-2 Thursday.
Miller was just 4-6 with a 5.68 ERA in 18 regular-season starts, but has pitched well in the playoffs, going 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA in two starts. He allowed only one run on two hits over six innings while winning the opener — the tally coming on a first-pitch homer by Blue Jays leadoff hitter George Springer in the bottom of the first.
The right-hander, going on four days’ rest, will need to shut down a Blue Jays offense that has scored 21 runs while winning the past two games in Seattle. Andres Gimenez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered in each of those contests.
“I’m ready to go, I’m excited and it will be a lot of fun to see what it feels like on the (T-Mobile Park) mound,” Miller said. “I think the last two weeks everything’s felt really good — the body, elbow. … Plus you factor in it’s (the) playoffs, the last two games have been on the road, so (I) get a little extra adrenaline. But it helps a lot when your body’s feeling good.”
Woo, who turned into the Mariners’ ace this season while the likes of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Miller spent time on the injured list, will be headed for the bullpen.
He compiled a 15-7 record and a 2.94 ERA in the regular season and earned his first All-Star selection. However, he last appeared in a game when he threw five scoreless one-hit innings against the Houston Astros on Sept. 19. He exited that outing due to pectoral inflammation, and he was left off the Mariners’ AL Division Series roster before he was added to the ALCS roster.
Woo hasn’t built up his arm sufficiently in side sessions to a point at which he would be at a full pitch count, so the decision was made to use him out of the bullpen.
“It’s a different kind of a role,” Wilson said of asking Woo to pitch in relief. He had a chance to do it in the All-Star Game, so maybe a little bit of experience coming out of a ‘pen.
“This is the time of year where you ask people to do things that they’re not as comfortable doing or they haven’t done as much. But he’s got a wealth of people that will help him. (Luis Castillo and) Logan Gilbert did it recently, they can help. So I think he’ll be in good shape and, again, I think he’s excited to get back out there.”
The Blue Jays will counter with right-hander Kevin Gausman, who is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in the postseason. He allowed two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings during a 3-1 loss in Game 1.
Gausman held the Mariners scoreless until Cal Raleigh homered with two outs in the sixth. Gausman was replaced after issuing a walk to the next batter, Julio Rodriguez, and a wild pitch by Brendon Little and an RBI single by Jorge Polanco made Gausman the hard-luck loser.
“You like his composure, you like the way he’s throwing the ball, you like his stuff, you like his heartbeat in big situations,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Gausman. “He’s pitched in huge games for us. He’s been, arguably, one of our, if not our best, pitchers throughout the year in the second half. But I think he’s just a guy that if you need a big outing from, he’s shown that he can rise to the occasion.”
Gausman is 2-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 12 career regular-season appearances (11 starts) against the Mariners. He is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA in two lifetime postseason outings vs. Seattle.
Miller owns an 0-1 record with a 6.97 ERA in two career regular-season starts against Toronto.
The Blue Jays will be without outfielder Anthony Santander, who was removed from the postseason roster on Thursday because of a back injury, ending his season. Joey Loperfido took Santander’s spot.
“We’d obviously love to have (Santander) in there, but it’s part of the game and part of this point of the season,” Gausman said. “He’s really battled back to even get here. It’s next guy up. (The Mariners) aren’t going to feel bad that he’s not in there. They’ll probably be pretty happy, to be honest.”
–Field Level Media
