Don’t be surprised if Dylan Moore has a new nickname Saturday.

If his Seattle Mariners teammates get wind of Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay’s comments, Moore might be answering to the name Clark Kent.

After Moore went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs in host Seattle’s 8-1 victory on Friday in the opener of a three-game series between the American League West rivals, Kotsay dropped a reference to Superman.

“Moore seems kind of kryptonite for us,” Kotsay said. “Every time he is in the lineup, it seems like we have trouble getting him out.”

The task of stopping Moore, who is filling in at shortstop for the injured J.P. Crawford (strained right oblique) apparently will fall Saturday on A’s right-hander Joey Estes, who is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to make his first appearance of the season. Estes made two starts last September, including one against Seattle in which he allowed six runs (five earned) in 4 2/3 innings.

The Mariners are set to counter with right-hander Bryce Miller (3-2, 2.61), who is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three previous starts versus Oakland.

Moore hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run fourth inning Friday. He also lined a two-run single to left in the fifth to make the score 7-0 and added a run-scoring single in the seventh to set a career-high for RBIs in a game.

Moore said playing every day has helped him at the plate.

“It’s just easier to be on time with the fastball. That’s pretty much number one, which is kind of like the basis of hitting, you could say. Try to be on time for the fastest pitch they throw,” Moore said. “Playing every day makes it easier when you’re seeing heaters every day.”

Manager Scott Servais said it was evident from the time the Mariners convened in February that Moore had changed his approach.

“I think Dylan Moore’s season really started in spring training and it starts by his swing decisions,” Servais said. “He swings at the right pitches. There used to be holes in his swing where you could attack him. He’s cleaned up a lot of that.”

After the Mariners had a streak of six consecutive series victories snapped this week in Minnesota, Friday’s victory was soothing.

“A great way to start the homestand,” Servais said. “It was really a complete game. We pitched well. We had guys on base and we got timely hits, really good night offensively.”

The Mariners got a scare when right-hander Bryan Woo, making his first start of the season after dealing with elbow inflammation, had to leave after 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

Servais said Woo tightened up when sitting on the bench during the Mariners‘ lengthy fourth-inning rally and should make his next start.

The A’s, who have lost five of their past six games, avoided the shutout on Lawrence Butler’s run-scoring, broken-bat grounder up the middle with two outs in the ninth inning. That came after one-out singles by Kyle McCann and Tyler Soderstrom.

“It’s always a positive to put some at-bats together in a game like that …” Kotsay said. “We pretty much got shut down offensively for eight of those innings.”

—Field Level Media

SEATTLE — Dylan Moore hit a two-run homer off Oakland starter Paul Blackburn and finished with a career-high five RBIs to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Athletics 8-1 on Friday night.

Dating back to the start of last season, the A’s loss was their 13th in 14 games against the Mariners and their fifth loss in six games overall.

“Moore seems to be kryptonite for us,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Every time he’s in the lineup, it seems like we have trouble getting him out.”

While the Mariners rebounded to open a brief homestand after losing three of four in Minnesota, the immediate concern was the status of starting pitcher and Alameda native Bryan Woo, who left with one out in the fifth inning.

Making his first start of the year after being slowed by a sore elbow during spring training, Woo, 24, allowed just one hit through the first four innings only to leave the game after getting Tyler Soderstrom to foul out behind third base to open the fifth.

Catcher Cal Raleigh immediately went to the mound and was quickly joined by pitching coach Pete Woodworth and manager Scott Servais. Woo eventually walked off the mound alongside athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson and was replaced by Trent Thornton.

Servais told reporters that Woo will make his next start, saying he just got tight while sitting during the Mariners’ five-run fourth inning.

Woo was expected to be the No. 5 starter in Seattle’s rotation entering the season before the elbow soreness emerged in spring training. In 11 1/3 innings over three rehab outings with Triple-A Tacoma, Woo didn’t allow an earned run. Last season, Woo was 4-5 with a 4.21 ERA in 18 starts with the Mariners.

“I was just sitting for a long time and it’s hard to get it going again,” said Woo, an Alameda High alum who allowed one hit, struck out three, walked one, and threw 62 pitches Friday. “It’s been a theme through the rehab process. Pretty normal.”

After cruising through the first three innings, Blackburn (3-2) ran into trouble immediately in the fourth, walking Mitch Haniger and Cal Raleigh.

Luke Raley barely missed a three-run homer and settled for an RBI double off the top of the wall. Ty France lined a two-run double, and Moore hit his third homer of the season just inside the foul pole in left.

Moore followed an inning later with a two-out, two-run single to give the Mariners a 7-0 lead. He added an RBI single to score Raley in the seventh.

Thornton (1-1), Kirby Snead, and Cody Bolton kept the Mariners’ shutout of the A’s going until the ninth, when Lawrence Butler’s two-out RBI single off Austin Voth plated Oakland’s only run.

Blackburn was tagged for all seven runs and was roughed up for a second time in three starts after giving up six earned runs over four innings to Baltimore on April 28. In his other five starts this season, Blackburn has allowed eight earned runs in 38 innings pitched.

“Just kind of one of those days, I guess,” Blackburn said. “In the fourth, obviously starting off with those two walks is not ideal. Not really setting us up for a good inning there.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: IF Zack Gelof (oblique) will be in the lineup for Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday as he begins a rehab assignment. Gelof has been out since late April.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Joey Estes is expected to be recalled from Las Vegas to make his first start of the season. Estes made two starts last September, including one against Seattle when he allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Mariners: RHP Bryce Miller (3-2, 2.61) has pitched at least six innings of five of seven starts this season and has yet to allow more than four earned runs.

The Seattle Mariners will be tasked with navigating the 2024 season without one of their best relievers.

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General manager Justin Hollander said Friday that hard-throwing right-hander Matt Brash underwent Tommy John surgery Wednesday to repair a small tear in his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. Brash is expected to be out for 12 months.

“Hopefully (around June) next year he’s back and ready to go,” Hollander said before Friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. “It’s a tough one.”

Brash was shut down early in spring training with right elbow inflammation and suffered a setback in late April that caused the team to shut down the 25 year old again after he wasn’t fully bouncing back from throwing sessions. Brash and the Mariners went to Dr. Keith Meister, who concluded Brash needed the surgery. Meister performed the procedure on Brash, per Hollander.

Brash came to Seattle as a starter in a trade that sent right-hander Taylor Williams to the San Diego Padres in 2020. The Mainers converted Brash to a reliever in 2022 after he struggled early on in a starting role. He appeared an MLB-high 78 games last season and posted a 9-4 record with a 3.09 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings.

“What he did for us last year was unbelievable how many times he came through for us,” Hollander said. “He (had) horrible batted ball luck the start of the year, didn’t get down on himself and was rapidly turning himself into the best or one of the best relievers in the American League, and to have his season just go away like this stinks for him, stinks for us. Probably one of the most popular players in our organization among his teammates, among staff members.”

Hollander also had injury updates on a number of other Mariners.

• Right-handed starter Bryan Woo was activated from in the injured list before Friday’s game and was set to make his season debut. Manager Scott Servais announced Woo would be the starter after Thursday’s game in Minnesota. Hollander said Woo wouldn’t have any restrictions. In three rehab appearances with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings and totaled 17 strikeouts, while allowing no walks and just five hits. Woo went on the IL with elbow inflammation in spring training.

“We’ll obviously monitor the pitch count,” Hollander said. “I wouldn’t anticipate him out there for like 110 tonight or something like that. Tough for him to build volume in Triple-A just because he was so efficient in every outing.”

• Outfielder Dom Canzone is heading to Reno, Nevada, to start a rehab appearance with the Rainiers on Saturday. Canzone suffered a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder making a highlight-reel catch crashing into the wall in left field against the Chicago Cubs on April 14. The left-hander led the team with three home runs at the time.

“The last week was a big positive in terms of his being him being able to take next steps, swinging the bat and everything,” Hollander said.

Hollander said Canzone will play at least four games with Tacoma and the team will reassess where his timing is at afterwards.

“I wouldn’t consider it a setback if he’s not ready on Wednesday,” Hollander said. “It’s been a while. We need to find out where his timings at and what his comfort level is at, but it is very possible that after four games he’s ready to go.”

• Shortstop J.P. Crawford was with the team Friday and being assessed for his readiness for a rehab assignment. Hollander said Crawford could be ready to start one as soon as this weekend or at least by early next week. He expects Crawford will need less time on assignment than Canzone.

“He’s making great progress. All the reports have been super positive,” Hollander said. “… We’ll see how long of a rehab assignment he needs, obviously probably less than Dom, but J.P. will tell us when he’s ready, basically.”

• There’s hope reliever Tayler Saucedo will need just the minimum 15 days on the IL after he suffered a hyperextended knee on a scary play when the left-hander fell awkwardly covering first base Tuesday night against the Twins. Hollander said the club was still waiting for soreness to go away before assessing where Saucedo is at.

“Right now we’re hopeful that is the minimum 15 days down for Sauce, which is a a huge relief given the way it looked on the field of the time,” Hollander said. “Obviously, I think all of us were scared that it was a knee or Achilles or something like that. Structurally, everything looked good in the knee, no Achilles issues or anything.”

• The Mariners are bringing right-handed reliever Gregory Santos to Seattle to be with the team and continue throwing, but he hasn’t gotten any closer to making his debut. Santos suffered a setback after an MRI and is back to throwing at 60 to 90 feet. Hollander said the team had hoped he’d be ready by late May or early June, but a more realistic window is now July.

“We just feel like having him spend some time around our big league team, be around (pitching strategist) Trent (Blank) and (pitching coach Pete Woodworth),” Hollander said. “Where he’s at in his rehab, there’s nothing that he needs in Arizona that we can’t give to him here.”

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