The Texas Rangers are off to a hot start this month, and it began with pitcher Nathan Eovaldi in the driver’s seat.
Only allowing one hit, Eovaldi led the Texas Rangers to their second consecutive win on Tuesday at Globe Life Field against the San Diego Padres, 7-0.
In front of 33,965 fans, Eovaldi had a seven-inning stretch and only gave up a single to right fielder Bryce Johnson at the top of the third inning. Additionally, he added six strikeouts to his standout game.
“I feel like I had a really good game plan going in,” Eovaldi said in a postgame interview. “I felt like I wasn’t really locating my fastballs early in the game, but I started to locate better as the game went on. I feel like I had a really good feel for my cutter the whole game, and I was able to use that pitch a lot of the time. When I was behind on the count, I felt like I relied a lot on that pitch.”
Eovaldi has only accomplished one other one-hitter in his career since he became a Ranger on Dec. 27, 2022 – he led the Rangers to a 12-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on June 4, 2023.
The Rangers’ rotation took a big hit at the beginning of May when Eovaldi was placed on a 15-day injured list with a right groin strain on May 3. He returned to the mound on May 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but only pitched three innings and gave up two runs.
In June, Eovaldi took the mound in five total games and averaged a 3.024 ERA. He allowed 25 hits and 14 runs out of the 28.2 innings he pitched last month. But Tuesday’s matchup was a standout game for Eovaldi, and he produced his best start of the season.
“It comes down to execution when I’m out there,” Eovaldi said, “and I was able to execute some good pitches.”
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy called upon relief pitcher Jonathan Hernandez to close out the last two innings when Eovaldi was called to the dugout at the end of the seventh. Hernandez only allowed one hit as well.
However, Bochy said that if the game would have had a tighter score deficit, he may have left Eovaldi on the mound for longer. Eovaldi said he is always ready and willing to pitch a nine-inning game, but Bochy prioritizes the health of his starting pitcher.
“He did his job and we had a fresh bullpen… we need to take care of him,” Bochy said.
The Rangers will take on the Padres at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
