The Orioles and Mariners will settle both their three-game set and their season series on Wednesday, with Bryan Woo set to start for Seattle and Shane Baz lined up for Baltimore. It is the kind of late-season game where every lineup note matters, and the final card already carries several of them.
Woo gets the ball in a ballpark where he has been far sharper this season, posting a 2.07 FIP in Seattle compared with a 4.28 mark everywhere else. That split helps explain why the Mariners are leaning on him in the finale, even after he was tagged for seven runs in Baltimore only a week ago. The club did not see Baz in last week’s four-game set, so Wednesday is the first look at a right-hander who has stayed out of that matchup until now.
The lineup around Woo gives Seattle some flexibility. Josh Naylor is back after missing a couple of games with a wrist issue, Mitch Garver will do the catching, and Cal Raleigh is getting a designated hitter day in his third game back from the injured list. Those moves come while Julio Rodríguez is taking a rest day after leaving last night’s game with a hamstring spasm, though he could still be available off the bench if the game turns late and Seattle needs a bat.
That possibility is the quiet wrinkle in the day: Rodríguez is not completely out of the picture, but the Mariners are treating him carefully after a night in which the hamstring issue surfaced. Luke Raley is away from the team because of the flu and is expected back at the ballpark tomorrow, while Cooper Criswell received a PRP injection today and will be down two to three weeks before he can begin building back up for a return to the roster. The absences and the rest day leave the Mariners managing health as much as they are managing the matchup.
Fans can watch the game on Mariners.TV, with Aaron Goldsmith, Angie Mentink and Ryan Rowland-Smith on the broadcast. The radio call is on 710 AM Seattle Sports with Rick Rizzs and Shannon Drayer. By the end of Wednesday night, the Mariners and Orioles will either have a series win to show for it or a split that leaves the season set closed without much room left for second thoughts.
