Mariners surge into first place in AL West

SEATTLE — The injuries continue to mount and the roster turnover continues to churn — but the Seattle Mariners just keep winning.

Shortstop J.P. Crawford’s go-ahead, two-RBI single sparked a six-run seventh inning, and the Mariners emerged late to sweep the rival Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, 9-3. Seattle won its seventh consecutive series, and they’ll enter May with a glaring positive: One of the league’s worst offenses in 2024 has surged to the top.

A simple, winning formula is working wonders in Seattle. Adequate run support has lessened the need for elite pitching on a nightly basis, allowing All-Star closer Andres Munoz to enter the ninth inning and mow down opponents in order.

They’re without All-Star starting pitchers Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. They’re without OF Victor Robles and INF Ryan Bliss, and the injury bug snowballed when the Mariners placed OF Luke Raley (right oblique strain) and Gold Glove utilityman Dylan Moore (right hip inflammation) on the 10-day injured list earlier this week.

Don’t tell the offense: The Mariners’ .751 OPS (on base plus slugging) this season ranks sixth in MLB entering Wednesday’s finale, and their 4.9 runs per game ranks eighth despite four sidelined hitters. Among MLB clubs, the Mariners rank third in home runs (45), third in on-base percentage (.337), and first in walks (131).

“I think the approach of staying in the middle helps,” Jorge Polanco said, who closed his stance and widened the distance between his feet in the batter’s box for a cleaner, simpler swing this offseason. “When I go to the middle, I think it’ll help you pull the ball without trying to pull the ball.”

Polanco homered twice in Tuesday’s opener with the Angels and plated all five Mariners runs, a one-man wrecking crew atop several AL hitting leaderboards. The reigning AL Player of the Week is slugging .819 this month with nine home runs and 25 RBI, becoming the first Mariner with two multi-homer games in April since Nelson “Boomstick” Cruz achieved the feat in 2015.

“He’s pulled the ball for power, and he’s been able to get a lot of balls out front, whether it’s a fastball or breaking ball,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s just in a state where he’s seeing the ball really well. He’s getting the barrel to it every time, and he’s really locked in. It’s been big for us during this stretch, for sure.”

And “Polo” agrees. “Really good stretch,” Polanco said. “Really fun.

“I think this is the best I’ve felt.”

The Mariners are 14-4 over their last 18 games, the best record in MLB over that span. Wednesday’s win lifted the Mariners (18-12) two games ahead of the AL West after the second-place Houston Astros fell to Detroit, 7-4.

Seattle sports a 74 percent chance to make the playoffs, per FanGraphs, and a 46.3 percent chance to win the AL West.

Logan Evans wins MLB debut

Logan Evans soaked up Saturday like a sponge. For the very first time, Seattle’s top pitching prospect entered T-Mobile Park’s home clubhouse in the flesh and took in views from the field and dugout — an experience he purposefully waited until the weekend for.

Perhaps selfishly, Evans admitted, he wanted the weekend to be his moment — not anyone else’s.

“Breathtaking,” Evans told reporters of the atmosphere. “I’ve played it in (the video game MLB) The Show. I’ve watched all of the games, for sure, but it’s a lot bigger and much nicer than I anticipated. It’s really cool.

“I didn’t want to experience it any other way.”

Just hours earlier, the Mariners promoted their top minor-league arm and No. 10 overall prospect to the majors. Selected by Seattle in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Evans’ activation completed a meteoric rise through the minor leagues — rookie and Low-A ball that fall before appearing with Double-A Arkansas in 2024 and starting for Triple-A Tacoma on Opening Day last month.

And when the 23-year-old made his MLB debut in Sunday’s series finale with the Miami Marlins, Evans picked up right where he left off, delivering five more-than-solid frames in a 7-6 Mariners win. He went five innings, allowing just two hits and two earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts.

Miami three-hitter Agustin Ramirez lasered a solo home run to center field in the first inning, but Evans refused to let an early run dampen the biggest day of his career by retiring 10 of his next 12 batters. The Mariners offense pounced for three runs in the second inning and allowed their rookie right-hander to cruise toward his first career win, the cherry on top of a day he’ll never forget.

“Solo home runs, they’re not going to kill you,” Evans said Sunday. “After we had the big (second) inning, J.P. and Julio both were just like, ‘We got you. Just keep grinding out there.’

“This is awesome,” Evans thought. “I watch these guys on TV, and they’re just supporting me and letting me do my thing.”

When the Mariners assigned Evans to Triple-A Tacoma following spring training, they told him to be himself: a strike-thrower with a six-pitch arsenal capable of finishing batters in two-strike counts. He was more of the same Sunday, mixing effectively with few mistakes. He’s the 14th pitcher in Mariners history to win his MLB debut and the first since Andrew Moore on June 22, 2017, against the Detroit Tigers.

“I thought he pitched an outstanding ballgame,” manager Dan Wilson said. “A guy in his debut who seemed very calm, very collected. He was in control of what he was doing the whole game, and I thought he pitched very well for his first time out.

“I don’t think you could (tell) it was his first time out, had you not known.”

Evans’ promotion and subsequent major league contributions couldn’t have been more timely. The Mariners are without two All-Stars from their star-studded rotation (Logan Gilbert, George Kirby) and have been carried by the offense, leading the American League in runs scored (78) and OPS (.856) over the last 15 days.

Logan Gilbert moves to 15-day IL

A path to October remains in the cards, but the Mariners no longer hold their ace.

Seattle placed All-Star pitcher and AL Cy Young Award candidate Logan Gilbert on the 15-day injured list last weekend with a right elbow flexor strain, a gut punch to the league’s best starting rotation that will sideline the 27-year-old for multiple weeks and potentially more.

Gilbert was through three perfect innings in Friday’s series opener with the Miami Marlins, but red flags waved and alarm bells blared when Seattle held their star pitcher out of the fourth. The Mariners quickly announced his exit was due to a right forearm strain before Miami rallied for six runs in the fifth inning of an 8-4 Marlins win.

“I’ve got a lot of faith,” Gilbert said Friday night. “God’s got a plan. I trust in that. I think it’ll be alright. I think it (could’ve been) a lot worse. We’ll see what happens.”

Pregame soreness isn’t abnormal, but Gilbert’s discomfort continued as trainers worked on his right elbow between innings. He presented his case to keep going, but the Mariners refused to risk a bad situation worsening.

“I always want to go back out (on the mound) but they always try to do what’s best for us, what’s smartest in the long run,” Gilbert said. “I was just trying to see if I could go back out and throw some warmup pitches and see how I felt, but they didn’t think it was a good idea.

“Nothing too crazy concerning. But usually, (the forearm tightness) goes away. It just didn’t really go away.”

Gilbert underwent additional examination Saturday morning, and an MRI revealed a mild (grade 1) flexor strain, a silver lining for teammates and fans who expected the worst. He won’t throw for two weeks following the injury, and the Mariners will re-examine Gilbert sometime around the weekend of May 9-11 to determine next steps in his rehabilitation.

“I think the news is positive in a lot of ways,” Dan Wilson said. “We’ll know more in the days coming, but I’m glad it was only that.

“Knowing the competitor that’s inside Logan Gilbert, he’s going to be out there as soon as possible.”

Short hops

• Dylan Moore (April 14-20) and Jorge Polanco (April 21-27) are the first Mariners to win back-to-back AL Player of the Week Awards since Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998.

• Nothing but nails: All-Star closer Andres Munoz is tied for an MLB-leading 11 saves this season, still a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities. In 15 innings, the triple-digit-throwing right-hander owns a 0.00 ERA with five hits, six walks, and 19 strikeouts.

• Cal Raleigh is tied with former Mariners teammate Eugenio Suarez (ARI) for an MLB-leading 10 home runs this season.

• Randy Arozarena has reached base safely in 25 straight games, a new career-high.

On deck

The Mariners embark on a six-game divisional road trip with Texas and the Athletics, kicking off a three-game set with the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Friday night. Bryan Woo gets the nod in Seattle’s series opener at 5:05 p.m.