Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi makes history, responds to Jacob deGrom injury with shutout
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ARLINGTON — Rangers general manager Chris Young, about 45 minutes before Saturday night’s first pitch, talked about depth and responses.
In this instance: the depth of the Rangers’ pitching staff in the wake of Jacob deGrom’s inflamed right elbow, and the way in which he hopes the rest of the club responds with the staff’s ace on the 15-day injured list.
“Good teams respond when you are tested,” Young declared.
He said that to an assortment of reporters, of course, but Nathan Eovaldi might’ve caught wind of the comment.
Eovaldi pitched a complete game shutout in the Rangers’ 2-0 win over the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. He struck out eight batters, gave up just three hits — one of which was originally ruled an error on second baseman Marcus Semien, and another that could have been — and walked none.
It was the first complete game shutout by a Rangers pitcher in Globe Life Field history, and the first thrown by a Texas arm since Martin Perez did so on May 20, 2022 at the Houston Astros. It was also the Alvin native’s first-ever nine-inning complete game shutout.
Talk about a response.
“He was on, wasn’t he?” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “[Threw all] four pitches, great command tonight, maintained his stuff in the ninth inning, had great stuff. Good pace, just a beautiful game. Fun game to watch.”
Eovaldi retired the first eight Yankees batters he faced before former Ranger Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled in the top of the third inning. New York first baseman Anthony Rizzo led off the fourth with a hard-hit single that booted off the glove of Semien, but Eovaldi induced a double-play to clear the bases. Willie Calhoun, another ex-Ranger, singled in the fifth — on a play that had been originally ruled a Semien error and later overturned — but Eovaldi got two groundouts and a flyout to end the frame.
Then he cruised.
Eovaldi, 33, retired the last 15 batters he faced. He finished the eighth inning at 99 pitches; Bochy said it was a no-brainer to send him out for the ninth. Back-to-back groundouts and a flyout ended the game with relative ease.
“It means a lot to me,” Eovaldi said. “I think it’s just being able to use all of my pitches at all times. I was able to get some outs with my slider tonight, which I usually never do. I usually hang that pitch and they end up hitting it. I was able to get two or three outs with my slider tonight. Curveball, using all my pitches tonight, both sides of the plate.”
Per Baseball Savant, Eovaldi threw 34 fastballs, 28 splitters, 17 curveballs, 17 cutters and 4 sliders for 113 total.
“Anything I put down, he seemed to execute it,” said catcher Jonah Heim, who caught Eovaldi for the first time since spring training on Saturday. “Makes my life easy, and we just follow the game plan until we need to make adjustments. We didn’t really need to make any, he was cruising.”
Eovaldi’s brilliance aided a Rangers offense that scored fewer than four runs in a win for just the second time this season. Shortstop Ezequiel Duran hit a mammoth two-run home run off of New York starter Jhony Brito in the fifth inning to plate the game’s lone runs. Designated hitter Robbie Grossman, who provided the offense on Friday night, scored on Duran’s home run after a leadoff single that extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Duran — whose playing time spiked after shortstop Corey Seager landed on the injured list with a hamstring strain earlier this month — is hitting .310 on the season and .348 in his last 15 games.
“He’s hitting a lot of hard balls,” Bochy said. “He’s getting most of the time out there, and he’s taken advantage of it. He’s a ballplayer; I can put him anywhere.”
Make that two players who’ve stepped up in the absence of an injured star.
Or, in other words, a positive response.
“We’ve already hit a couple bumps with injuries, and you hate to see it,” Bochy said. “But when you get an effort like that like we did tonight from Nate, it does set a tone. We’ve just got to keep moving.”
Attendance record falls: The Rangers sold out Saturday’s game with an attendance of 40,027 — the most ever for a baseball game at Globe Life Field. The overall attendance, set at a Morgan Wallen concert last October, is 43,598: “It was definitely loud,” Heim said. “When they pack this stadium, the fans are incredible. I think that’s why you play this game, to get that kind of feeling out there and that rush.” The previous record for a baseball game at Globe Life Field was 38,832, set on Oct. 3, 2022 vs. the Yankees.
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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) reacts after watching the final out of his 9-inning shoutout of the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field in Arlington, April 29, 2023.
© Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/TNS