SEATTLE — Sunday couldn’t have gone much better for Logan Evans.

Not only did his lifelong dream finally come true, as the 23-year-old got the call to the major leagues after making five starts this season in Triple-A Tacoma, but the 6-4 Evans pitched well enough in his major-league debut to get Mariners fans, and teammates, excited about the future.

Evans ended his outing in dramatic fashion, pumping his fist in excitement after striking out Miami Marlins center fielder Jesus Sanchez looking to end the fifth inning. The home crowd at T-Mobile Park roared with approval at Evans’ emotional finish and the impressive pitching display of Seattle’s newest youngster.

“He was in control of what he was doing the whole game, and I thought he pitched very well for his first time out,” manager Dan Wilson said. “I don’t think you could have told it was his first time out, had you not known. I thought he pitched very well, mixed all his stuff. That’s what he does, and I think that’s what makes him successful.”

Though he ran into trouble at times, Evans escaped every jam with minimal damage and finished with just two hits and two earned runs allowed over five innings, with three walks and three strikeouts in a 7-6 Mariners win that moved Seattle into sole possession of first place in the American League West, as the Texas Rangers lost to San Francisco on Sunday. Seattle has won six consecutive series.

On a weekend where Seattle lost ace Logan Gilbert to a grade-one flexor strain that will likely keep him sidelined until at least June, Evans provided just the performance the Mariners hoped for, while the offense continued to click.

The first pitch of Evans’ career came right back at him, as leadoff hitter Xavier Edwards hit the ball straight back to the pitcher for a 1-3 putout to start the game. After retiring Sanchez to secure the first two outs of his big-league career, Evans gave up his first run on a solo homer to Agustin Ramirez, a 404-foot blast.

But that mistake didn’t haunt Evans for long, as the Mariners offense continued its hot hitting by providing all the run support Evans would need to secure his first big league win. Cal Raleigh clubbed a solo homer on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first from Marlins starter Max Meyer.

“That’s where I just felt like I’ve just got to keep grinding for the team, and I know they’re going to put up runs,” Evans said. “This lineup is stacked, and we’re obviously rolling right now. So, it was cool. Seeing home runs from the dugout in the show is a pretty cool experience.”

That homer tied the score at 1-1 and tied Raleigh with former Mariners teammate Eugenio Suarez with an MLB-leading 10 on the season.

The Mariners gave their rookie pitcher some breathing room with three runs in the bottom of the second inning, as Julio Rodríguez drove in two runs with a bases-loaded RBI single, and Jorge Polanco continued his otherworldly start to the season with an RBI double to left-center, before adding an RBI single in the fourth that made it a 5-1 Mariners lead.

Polanco had two homers on Saturday night, and is currently hitting .377 after slogging through an injury-filled 2024 season in Seattle.

Seattle’s other blazing hot hitter, shortstop J.P. Crawford, mashed a two-run homer in the fifth inning that traveled 417 feet to right-center off Marlins reliever Ronny Henriquez, giving Crawford eight RBI in Seattle’s past six games.

“When he gets his pitch, he’s able to turn on it like he did today and crush it. That was a long home run,” Wilson said. “His at-bats have been so good, and his ability to get on base and make things happen, has been so good. Offensively, J.P. has been in a really good spot.”

Evans set the Marlins down in order in the second before running into his first bit of trouble with two walks in the third inning, but he got Ramirez to fly out to right fielder Luke Raley to end the inning.

Evans pitched another perfect inning in the fourth, before showing an ability to limit the damage in his fifth and final frame. After allowing a leadoff single to Connor Norby, Evans walked Liam Hicks to put two runners aboard with no outs.

A wild pitch advanced both runners, before Otto Lopez drove in Norby with a groundout to third to make it a 4-2. Evans then finished his outing by getting Edwards to flyout to left field and then striking out Sanchez in emotional fashion.

It was a big moment for a pitcher who was throwing for the University of Pittsburgh just two years ago, and skyrocketed through the minor leagues after the Mariners picked him in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB draft.

“I put my team in a chance to win the game,” Evans said. “I thought that was a big strikeout. I felt like it could’ve been a crooked number, and I felt like I located that changeup pretty well. I might have gotten a little bit of a good call, but yeah, I was super pumped up.”

The Seattle bullpen made things interesting, as Ramirez hit his second homer of the game off Collin Snider in the sixth to make it 7-3, and Norby hit a three-run homer off Trent Thornton in the eighth to make it a one-run game.

But Andrés Muñoz came in and slammed the door shut with a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save of the season.

For both Evans and the first-place Mariners, Sunday’s win was a glimpse of a hopeful future.

“I think a lot of times, kind of a nose down and just keeping going is the best approach, and these guys have nailed it,” Wilson said. “It’s great we’re in first place, but we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to do, and consistency is something that we’re going to continue to look for, and these guys have figured out how to do that.”

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