Nathan Eovaldi gave the Boston Red Sox a much-needed 6 1/3 innings of work after a doubleheader Sunday saw them use a slew of pitchers.
And Eovaldi was more than prepared for the 11 a.m. ET start.
Monday, as you know, marked Patriots' Day, so the Red Sox played on the morning of what usually is Marathon Monday. Eovaldi racked up 10 strikeouts in Boston's 11-4 win over the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park to help the Red Sox move to 11-6.
The right-hander was preparing for this start for the last few days in order to get his body acclimated to the earlier-than-normal start.
"I knew right after my last start in Minnesota that I had this game," Eovaldi told reporters after the win. "So I was waking up early, getting the body going, moving around a lot. I was prepared for it.
"I was at the park at 8 o'clock. The last two, three days waking up at seven in the morning, just getting ready, get the body moving. I'm tired in the afternoon, but these key hours I was locked in, focused, ready to go."
So, Eovaldi woke up earlier than usual in order to get his body used to the upcoming early start?
"Yeah, absolutely. Get the body moving around," Eovaldi said. "Fortunately right now we've only been playing day games really since spring training. We haven't really had any night games. So it hasn't been that hard for me. I'm a morning person anyway. I love coffee. I wake up and enjoy it. But I was waking up a little earlier than normal just to get ready for this game."
It seemed to work, and Eovaldi gave the relievers some much-needed rest while also getting the Red Sox back to the dish in quick fashion.
