Oakland native Bryan Woo returns to the Bay Area for the first time as a major-leaguer on Monday night when he gets the start for the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series against the host San Francisco Giants.
Each team figures to begin the interleague set a bit fatigued, with the Mariners having hung on for a tough 7-6 win at home over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon, hours before the Giants completed their road trip with a nationally televised contest against the New York Mets that caused their flight home to arrive after midnight.
The playoff contenders in their respective divisions will be going head-to-head for the only time this season, with the Mariners having won two in a row to cap a 3-3 homestand, while the Giants' 8-4 loss in New York capped a 2-4 Eastern swing.
The 23-year-old Woo (1-1, 4.37 ERA) attended Alameda High School -- the alma mater of longtime Giants shortstop Chris Speier -- near the Oakland Coliseum before venturing down the coast to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo for college.
The right-hander has made just five major league starts and has never faced the Giants.
Woo was a bit of a question mark to get the ball in San Francisco after Mariners general manager Justin Hollander admitted following his last start that the organization will be monitoring his pitching load in his second season after Tommy John surgery.
Woo was limited to just 57 innings in the minors last season and has already reached 66 2/3 between Double-A and the majors this season.
"It's incumbent upon them to be as efficient as possible in the innings they have so we can get them through five- and six-inning outings at a reasonable pitch count," Hollander said of Woo and fellow prospect Bryce Miller. "Because we're not just purely measuring innings; we're measuring stressful innings (and) how hard they're working in any given outing.
"We're also going to have to be creative as we go with off days and understanding there's a certain limit to what you can do there. There may be a point where we have to shut one of them down."
Regardless of how many pitches Woo throws Monday, none will be against the San Francisco hitter with whom he is quite familiar. Outfielder Mitch Haniger, a fellow Cal Poly alum, suffered a fractured arm when hit by a pitch on June 13 and remains out of the lineup after undergoing surgery.
Haniger joined the Giants as a free agent over the winter after spending five years with Seattle. He has never batted against the Mariners.
The Giants are expected to open a six-game homestand leading into the All-Star break with ace right-hander Logan Webb (7-7, 3.43) on the hill. He had a personal three-game winning streak snapped in a 6-1 loss at Toronto last Wednesday.
The 26-year-old will be making just his third career start against the Mariners, having gone 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA in the previous two.
Webb was one of five players -- including J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Tyler Rogers -- that Giants manager Gabe Kapler believed could have made the National League All-Star team when rosters were completed Sunday. Instead, the team got just one representative, closer Camilo Doval.
"He's very deserving," Kapler said of Doval. "He's had a phenomenal year. He's one of the premier closers in the game. I couldn't be happier for him."
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