ARLINGTON, Texas – The results weren’t what Logan Evans wanted in his first major-league start on the road, an 8-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
All things considered, though, the 23-year-old said he’ll take away some encouragement from his second big-league start. Regardless of the outcome – good or bad – he said he has to maintain a positive mindset.
“Don’t change too much,” Evans said. “I felt like I got ahead. I felt like I executed. There were definitely some things that I felt like I could execute a little bit better. But just keep with my Plan A and keep going and attack.”
Evans’ pitching line wasn’t pretty – he was tagged for six runs, all in a never-ending third inning, on 11 hits (all singles) – as the Rangers ended the Mariners’ six-game winning streak.
Manager Dan Wilson suggested Evans was pretty unlucky, though.
“I thought Logan pitched a really good ball game today,” Wilson said. “He probably deserved a better fate.”
Throwing the “kitchen sink,” as he calls his vast arsenal, Evans used all six of his pitches, and Wilson said he liked the pitch-selection mix.
And with rotation stalwarts Logan Gilbert (right elbow flexor strain) and George Kirby (shoulder inflammation) still on the injured list, Evans does not sound in jeopardy of giving up his rotation spot in the short term.
Wilson said he appreciated that Evans was able to gather himself after that ugly third inning and get through five innings (on 92 pitches), providing some relief for the Mariners bullpen.
“The way he bounced back from that inning was really good,” Wilson said. “That’s a big learning moment for him, and a confidence booster.”
The Mariners had taken a 1-0 lead off Jacob deGrom in the third inning.
Leo Rivas, after a 10-pitch at-bat, singled to center field and stole second; J.P. Crawford followed with an infield single to move Rivas to third; and Jorge Polanco’s groundout brought in the game’s first run.
Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs, but Randy Arozarena hit into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
The Mariners offensive, so prolific for most of the past month, didn’t muster much of a fight after that.
The Mariners (20-13) had won the first five games of the season against the Rangers (17-18), including the first two games of this series.
The Mariners couldn’t complete the sweep, and they’ll head to Sacramento for their first road series in the Athletics’ new park to begin a three-game series Monday.
Josh Jung led off the third with a hard-hit lineout to Arozarena in left field. After that, eight of the next nine Texas batters reached base, starting with Evans’ five-pitch walk to the No. 9 hitter, Blaine Crim.
Josh Smith followed with a blooper into shallow left field – just between shortstop J.P. Crawford and Arozarena – and the next batter, Wyatt Langford, was credited with an infield single on a bouncing ground ball that ate up rookie third baseman Ben Williamson.
With the bases loaded, Corey Seager hit a sharp single to drive in two runs and give the Rangers their first lead of the series, 2-1.
“They were able to find some holes,” Wilson said. “And sometimes that’s the way the game goes. I think, again, he threw the ball well; he made some good pitches. But luck wasn’t on his side in that inning.”
Crawford snared a line drive off the bat of Joc Pederson for the second out, but Marcus Semien followed with a first-pitch single to drive in another run.
Evans walked Jonah Heim to load the bases again, and Adolis Garcia’s sharp groundball single up the middle drove in two more to make it 5-1.
Jung’s soft single made it 6-1 before Evans struck out Crim to finally end the third inning.
“It’s baseball, you know,” Evans said. “Sometimes it falls my way; sometimes it falls there’s. I feel like I could have executed a little bit better with those walks, but just learn from my mistakes.”