Nathan Eovaldi was feeling himself Wednesday in a 9-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The starting right-hander went seven full innings for the Boston Red Sox, giving up just a single run on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
It only took him 91 pitches, too.
“In spring training I learned a lot when they got to me early in the game, so I had to really mix my pitches today and I was able to do that,” Eovaldi said on a postgame video conference. “You know, I didn’t have really one pitch that wasn’t working. I was able to use the curveball, the slider, I used that a lot today. The cutter, splitter was good. So I was able to locate the fastball and make some mechanical adjustments the other day and they really helped me out so, I felt really good out there.”
Eovaldi threw 60 strikes, and he got out of four innings using just nine pitches thanks to some good tempo and a five-pitch mix. His performance was applauded by manager Alex Cora.
It seems like Eovaldi has shaken those spring training struggles.
