ARLINGTON -- Imagine you’re an opposing team who faces one of the best pitchers in the world in Jacob deGrom on Tuesday night. You get beat, but Wednesday is a new day.
Waiting on Wednesday isn’t the greatest pitcher of his generation, but Nathan Eovaldi has been as important to this era of the Texas Rangers as anybody.
Eovaldi, making his second start off the injured list, tossed five scoreless innings against the Orioles on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field, setting the tone for a 6-0 victory and a series win to close out the homestand.
“I feel like he's set up today, right?” Eovaldi said of his teammate deGrom. “He went out there yesterday, and it was, again, another quality start, going out there and dominating the lineups. Every time he takes the mound, we have a really good chance of winning the ballgame. And then it's our job as the next guy in the rotation to follow him up and give the team a chance to win, too.”
The right-hander threw 72 pitches in his five innings of work, just about where manager Bruce Bochy said they wanted him to be in his build up. He also lowered his ERA to 1.75 in 77 1/3 innings across 14 starts this season. That is the second-lowest ERA through a pitcher’s first 14 starts of a season in WSH/TEX franchise history (since 1961), behind only Rick Honeycutt’s 1.49 ERA in 1983.
Before his start against the Mariners on Friday, Eovaldi had been sidelined since May 27 with triceps tightness. He did not make a rehab start, instead opting for a string of live batting practice sessions before returning to the big league club to continue to get stretched out.
“I was trying to go back out there for the sixth today, and they had said no,” Eovaldi said. “I felt good. I felt strong towards the end. I made a few mechanical adjustments from the last outing to this one, and I feel like they helped out a lot. The first game back, I just felt like I was out of sync with my mechanics. I had a little bit more wiggle room today, and being able to go out there and go a little deeper was because my mechanics were on point.”
To top it all off, for the first time in forever, the Rangers provided Eovaldi with some run support. He entered the day with the worst run support of all Texas qualified starting pitchers at 2.99 runs per nine innings.
On Wednesday. The Rangers collected 11 hits to score six runs, which is tied for the most runs the Rangers have scored in any Eovaldi start this season. Entering the day, he had received two or fewer runs of support in all six starts he made at Globe Life Field in 2025.
His runs of support tonight doubled his total from his previous four starts combined.
“We’re just getting some timely hits,” Bochy said. “For example, we had second and third, and couldn't get them in with the first two hitters [in the fourth inning]. [Ezequiel] Duran did a great job of picking us up there. That's a big hit. Those are what wins ballgames for you. Those two-out hits, especially men on it. It's good to see the guys having some success and quality ABs up there. It’s what we need to do to get on a roll -- get those timely hits.”
The middle-infield duo of Marcus Semien and Corey Seager led the way with a homer each, with Semien launching a three-run shot. Tonight marked the 14th time since 2022 -- the first season of their respective mega-deals -- that both Seager and Semien homered in a game for Texas, with the Rangers going 8-6 in such games.
“In order to be consistent in putting runs on a board, you need three or four guys swinging the bats well,” Bochy said, “That's how you put up crooked numbers. They're all swinging well right now. That's what this club needs. We just need consistency for the most part, in the order. And I think lately it has been like that.”