ARLINGTON – Nathan Eovaldi took the mound in the closing stages of Saturday’s game between the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins looking to accomplish something he hadn’t accomplished this season: an out in the eighth inning.
He failed to do so, and a meltdown inning ensued that sealed Texas’ series loss and the August 11-15 games.
Eovaldi had thrown 94 pitches before the eighth inning, allowing just one run on three hits. The Twins scored three times to close the gap before Texas got an out in the deciding inning that led to the Rangers’ 4-2 loss at Globe Life Field.
Edouard Julien, Christian Vázquez and Austin Martin each hit a single off Eovaldi to load the bases before manager Bruce Bochy replaced him with right-hander David Robertson. Minnesota’s Willie Castro hit the second pitch he saw from Robertson to center field for a two-run single, then Martin scored on a throwing error by Leody Taveras to take a two-run lead.
“(Eovaldi) was determined: ‘I feel better now than I did when the game started,'” Bochy said. “He just dropped a couple of balls with two strikes. You have to give (Minnesota) credit for hitting well. We broke down defensively there and that didn’t help matters.”
Photos: Texas Rangers honor Adrián Beltré before game against Minnesota Twins
Eovaldi’s 103 pitches were the second-most he has thrown this season and the most since his 105-pitch performance against the Atlanta Braves on April 20. Saturday’s loss was his first start since leaving a game against the New York Yankees a week earlier because of a right-sided injury.
“As the game went on, I got better,” Eovaldi said. “I feel like I made some good shots, but they made some good shots, too. I’ve got to do a better job of getting us out of that situation, especially with Boch trusting me to be out there.”
Saturday was the third game in a row in which the Rangers had their starting pitcher throw longer than usual: Cody Bradford threw 104 pitches in Thursday’s loss, a season high, while Andrew Heaney threw 97 pitches on Friday, the second-highest of his entire season.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Bradford finished his start with four scoreless innings, but Heaney managed just one out in his fifth and final inning, allowing a hit by pitch, a single and a game-tying three-run home run. Bochy said before Saturday’s game that he decided to “let this be his game” when it came to Heaney, and acknowledged that they tried to give Texas’ bullpen a break.
“I don’t think that puts any pressure on anybody when those guys go five or six innings,” Bochy said. “(Eovaldi) is our guy, he’s our ace. He assured us, ‘I couldn’t feel better.’ The pitch counts weren’t as high where he was as far as the innings, the stressful innings. He really pitched very efficiently.”
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