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<\/p>\nTwo wrongs don\u2019t make a right, but one right did make nine lefts look oh so wrong in Seattle. <\/p>\n
Logan Evans was efficient, effective, and exuding confidence on Tuesday in a dominant 9-1 Mariners victory over the Nationals. Evans allowed one run on four hits and sailed through eight innings in the longest outing from a Mariners starting pitcher this year. Every batter in the Nationals lineup stood in the left-handed batter\u2019s box, making Evans the first Mariners pitcher to face all lefties in more than two decades. Whatever handedness advantage the Nationals hoped to gain never materialized. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could attack each and every one of them with the same game plan, maybe with a few adjustments,\u201d Evans said. \u201cIt was easy to get in a rhythm just knowing that every single hitter will be on that side, and I\u2019m going to attack them with the same game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans pounded the zone with all five of his pitches but mostly relied on what he called his \u201cthree-headed monster\u201d \u2014 a curveball, a sweeper, and a gyro-slider (Baseball Savant labels it a cutter). Cal Raleigh said Evans\u2019 ability to land his full arsenal for strikes, with a variety of spin and movement, is part of what made him effective Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard, even if you are looking for stuff like that as a hitter, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re going to get and it makes it really difficult,\u201d Raleigh said. <\/p>\n
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Evans blazed through the first seven innings in just 69 pitches and sat down more than half the batters he faced on three pitches or fewer. He threw 65.9% of his pitches in the zone \u2014 the most for a Mariners starting pitcher this year. He ran into a bit of trouble in the eighth, allowing a leadoff walk and a double, which ultimately prevented the Mariners first complete game since July 4, 2023<\/a>. But he worked out of the jam unscathed with a strikeout, a lineout, and a flyout. Eduard Bazardo threw a clean ninth inning to seal the win. <\/p>\n Dan Wilson noted Evans\u2019 quick tempo after the game. <\/p>\n \u201cHe keeps the hitter moving,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWhen you get ahead and are moving quickly, the hitter has to make a decision quickly, and he was making that possible all night long. He executed the game plan that he and Cal wanted to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans\u2019 performance Tuesday was certainly the best in his young career. He finished with a Game Score of 71 \u2014 the sixth highest mark from a Mariners starting pitcher in 2025. <\/p>\n Evans was able to pitch so aggressively, in part, because the Mariners offense scored early and often. They got out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with the Post-Retool Dream Sequence: J.P. Crawford leadoff with a flare single to left, Julio homered him home, and Raleigh made it back-to-back with a 112 mph sky scraper that seemed to disappear into the upper deck. Raleigh made it 4-0 in the fifth inning with his second homer on the day. <\/p>\n The Mariners would add three more runs in the sixth and two in the eighth, taking advantage of the Nationals porous infield defense<\/a> on multiple occasions. Julio collected three hits (and a barreled out), Crawford added two walks to his single in the first, and Raleigh finished the day with 19 homers, second most in MLB behind only Shohei Ohtani with 20. While the lineup has cooled in May<\/a>, the heart of the Mariners order continues to scorch the baseball.<\/p>\n