Evans ‘deserved better fate’ in tough loss to Rangers

ARLINGTON -- Logan Evans isn’t too worried about what the stat line suggests from his second start in the Majors.

It looks forgettable, as he was charged with six runs on 11 hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings in the Mariners’ 8-1 loss to the Rangers on Sunday afternoon, ending Seattle’s six-game winning streak.

In reality, though, Evans didn’t give up much hard contact all day. All 11 hits were singles, many of which simply found the right holes at the right time in what became a six-run third inning for the Rangers. Evans’ other four innings of work were scoreless frames.

“It’s baseball, you know?” Evans said. “It’s a game. Sometimes it falls my way. Sometimes it falls theirs. I feel like I could’ve executed a little better with those walks, but just learn from my mistakes.”

Evans, the Mariners’ No. 10 prospect who joined the rotation when Logan Gilbert landed on the injured list last month, navigated around traffic the first two innings. Things then unraveled in the third.

Evans issued a one-out walk to Rangers nine-hole hitter Blaine Crim, followed by Josh Smith reaching on a popup that landed safely in shallow left. Then, third baseman Ben Williamson couldn’t make a play on a sharply hit grounder by Wyatt Langford that loaded the bases.

The Rangers took advantage. Corey Seager drove in two runs with a single to right. After Evans got Joc Pederson to line out for the second out, the Rangers scored four more on RBI singles by Marcus Semien, Adolis García and Josh Jung. Evans walked Jonah Heim during that stretch, too, between Semien and García’s RBI hits.

Part of the growth of a young pitcher is figuring out how to minimize damage in innings such as the third. However, manager Dan Wilson felt like Evans made the pitches that could have done just that. Quite simply, luck wasn’t on his side.

“Probably deserved a better fate today, cause I thought he threw the ball well, mixed up his pitches, which is what he does, but just a tough day,” Wilson said. “Sometimes that’s the way the game goes. Again, threw the ball well, made some good pitches, but just luck wasn’t on his side that inning.”

The silver lining is how Evans responded. He threw two scoreless innings after the six-run third, as the Mariners’ starters have now gone at least five innings in 26 of 33 games.

“The way he bounced back from that inning was really good,” Wilson said. “I thought that was a big learning moment for him and a confidence booster.”

The six runs are the most runs Evans has allowed since joining the professional ranks as a 12th-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. Evans has had a couple of Minor League starts in which he gave up five runs, including earlier this season on April 3 when he was pitching for Triple-A Tacoma against Reno.

But Evans hasn’t endured this type of outing since his college days at the University of PIttsburgh in 2023. Still, even looking at his college stats shows a pitcher who was able to recover nicely after subpar performances.

Evans plans to keep that trend going in the Majors, and not let an outing like Sunday’s linger.

“Don’t change too much,” he said. “I felt like I got ahead, I felt like I executed. There were definitely some things that I felt like I could’ve executed a little bit better, but just keep with my Plan A.”

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Right-hander George Kirby (right shoulder inflammation) is officially back on the road to the big leagues, making his first rehab start with Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday. Kirby allowed one run on a solo home run with four strikeouts over a 42-pitch, three-inning start at Las Vegas.

Kirby, an All-Star in 2023, went 14-11 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 starts last season.

Wilson addressed Kirby beginning his rehab assignment this weekend, saying: “He’s just continuing his progression and we’ll obviously see how those starts start to go.”