Nathan Eovaldi looked pretty solid Wednesday in what likely was his last game of the season.
The righty tossed six scoreless innings against the Orioles and led Boston to a 9-1 victory over Baltimore at Fenway Park. And despite injury, he was a bright spot in the Red Sox’s rotation during Major League Baseball’s abbreviated 2020 season.
Eovaldi has been on quite the roller coaster this year, to say the least. After battling injury, the 30-year-old finished the season at 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA — not too shabby for a shortened campaign.
After the game, Eovaldi put it all in perspective.
“Getting hurt was definitely unfortunate,” he said after the game. “I feel like the one bad outing that really sticks out to me was against the (New York) Yankees. But I mean, after that I was able to make the adjustments I needed to and I felt like I finished strong.
“Coming off the injury, I felt like I used that time and really felt like I figured out my splitter during that period. And when I came back … I felt like my splitter was there and it really showed for me.”
So, what’s on tap for the offseason?
“I’m going to treat the offseason as I would any other offseason,” he said. “You know, I feel really good going into the offseason. So, that’s nice. Usually, by this time my arm feels a little tired, (my) body feels a little tired. But right now, I feel really fresh. And obviously, it’s disappointing that we’re not going to the playoffs, things like that. But going into the offseason now, (I’ll) treat it like any other offseason and come back ready to go for next year.
Here are some more notes from Wednesday’s Orioles-Red Sox game:
— Despite the eight-point loss, the O’s outhit the Sox 11-10.
— Boston’s pitching staff struck out 13 Baltimore batters. DJ Stewart led the team with three, followed by Cedric Mullins, Chance Sisco and Ramon Urias with two apiece.
— Both teams left a combined 17 (!) runners on base.
— The Sox look to complete a three-game sweep of the O’s on Wednesday night. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.
