Oof, rough call last night on Emerson Hancock. But that won’t deter us from remaining in the Pacific Northwest for the middle matchup of this three-game set between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners.

Much more proven starters will be on the mound for this one, with Logan Gilbert receiving the ball for the home side following a sterling performance in his first career Opening Day assignment. In that affair, Gilbert completely stifled the Athletics en route to notching seven shutout innings and striking out eight. He scattered only a pair of hits, too.

To me, this is an obvious sign that Gilbert is building on his first career All-Star campaign of a year ago, one that also saw him finish sixth in the American League Cy Young Award voting.

If the iron is going to consistently strike hot for Gilbert, it’s in the first half of the campaign — in which he’s always been significantly better during each of his prior four years in the majors.

Throughout his time as a big leaguer, the 27-year-old has registered a 26-15 record to go with a 3.07 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and .211 batting average against in 68 starts prior to the Midsummer Classic hiatus. After that, though, he’s 15-15 with a 4.26 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and .244 BAA in 54 starts.

True, Detroit’s offense fared pretty well last night, plating a nine-spot for the evening. However, most of that damage came in the first inning off the aforementioned Hancock, and they’re going to have a far bigger challenge opposite the Mariners’ ace.