Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, on the injured list since April 26 with a right flexor strain, was back on the mound Thursday in Tacoma for his first rehab start.

Logan Gilbert admittedly carried some rust into his first rehab start at Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday night, but it was nonetheless a positive step in the right direction as the Mariners’ towering ace works his way back from the injured list.

Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford was having a normal season for his standards going into Thursday night's matchup with the Washington Nationals. The 30-year-old was slashing .256/.377/.350 across 52 games, slightly above his career line of .246/.341/.368 over 824 contests. He also had four homers and 20 RBI.

After being designated for assignment once again last week, Casey Lawrence is back to serve as a depth bullpen option for the M's.

The Mariners are a home favorite (-158) against the Twins (+133). The Seattle Mariners will give the start to Bryan Woo (5-2, 2.40 ERA), who is looking for win No. 6 on the season, and the Twins will counter with Zebby Matthews (0-1, 7.71 ERA).

His fastball sat around 95-96, which is solid, but the most important part of Gilbert's outing is that he left feeling healthy. The importance of rehab starts is that a pitcher feels comfortable being back on the mound; the actual stats don't matter as much, as the reps are paramount.

Logan Gilbert and Luke Raley are due to come back from the injured list soon, and Harry Ford and Cole Young are almost worth of call-ups, so what will the M's do?

A day later, after the initial shock and disappointment subsided, Logan Evans had a mature perspective about his demotion from the Mariners to Triple-A Tacoma.

Get Seattle vs Washington baseball betting preview, spread and over/under insights for their matchup on May 29.

The Seattle Mariners will get another starting pitcher back in the fold over the weekend. Mariners manager Dan Wilson confirmed in a pregame interview