Nathan Eovaldi once again delivered on the big stage, sending the Texas Rangers to the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night.
Taking the mound with a chance to put the Baltimore Orioles away for good in the AL Division Series, Eovaldi did not disappoint — proving once again to embrace the October lights.
Eovaldi tossed seven innings, allowing just one run off five hits and no walks while striking out seven batters throughout the elite Game 3 showing. That’s now two wins in two postseason appearances thus far with the Rangers, just four wins away from reaching the World Series.
Rangers fans in attendance at Globe Life Park were appreciative of playoff Eovaldi, showering the right-hander with a much-deserved curtain call before Texas took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
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Eovaldi entered the pivotal matchup with a career 2.90 ERA over the course of 49 2/3 playoff innings, which included a 6 2/3, one-run performance in the AL Wild Card this season against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Make that now two AL East foes that Eovaldi’s taken down, which he’s no stranger to having pitched five previous seasons with the Boston Red Sox.
“I had a really good feel for my splitter tonight, (Jonah Heim) did an amazing job calling the game tonight,” Eovaldi told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports after Texas’ 7-1 victory. “I felt like we had a good game plan. And, I mean, leading, coming into this series (up) 2-0, in front of this crowd. The fans were absolutely incredible, the energy was here all night long. It was a lot of fun.”
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Texas will now await the winner of the Minnesota Twins-Houston Astros best-of-five series.
Eovaldi now has a 1.32 ERA in the 2023 postseason.
Featured image via Andrew Dieb/USA TODAY Sports Images
