ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi’s impressive streak for the Texas Rangers ended with a dud.
After going since the start of July, Eovaldi was tagged for three home runs while allowing season highs of five runs and eight hits in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night. The 35-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked one before exiting with Texas down 5-1.
Eovaldi had given up only six runs total over his previous seven starts, and half of those runs came in the same game. There had only been two long balls against him his past 14 games.
When he pitched in a 2-0 win over the New York Yankees last Tuesday, it was the 13th time in a 14-game span allowing one or zero runs. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson is the only pitcher since 1900 to record that kind of streak, according to STATS, and he did it in 1968, the season he won both the NL Cy Young and MVP awards.
Even though Evoladi’s overall ERA rose from 1.38 to 1.71, that is still better than the 1.94 of qualified MLB leader Paul Skenes. The AL leader is reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal at 2.35.
Eovaldi, who missed most of June with elbow inflammation, has thrown 116 innings in the Rangers’ 120 games. Pitchers need one inning per team game to qualify as a league leader.
Arizona’s first five batters were retired before rookie first baseman Tyler Locklear homered on a 402-foot shot to left field in the second inning.
Jake McCarthy opened the third with a double and Corbin Carrol followed with his 26th homer, a shot that ricocheted off the right-field pole. Ketel Marte was then hit by a pitch on his left elbow before Geraldo Perdomomo’s 12th homer made it 5-0.
Eovaldi benefitted from double plays in both the fourth and fifth to avoid giving up any more runs after Arizona also had hits in both those innings. The Diamondbacks were coming off a 17-hit game in their 13-6 win at home over Colorado on Sunday, when they set a franchise record with in the fifth inning — all with two outs.
Only four MLB pitchers since 1920 had a lower ERA than the 1.38 for Eovaldi in the first 19 starts of a season, with Gibson’s 1.06 for St. Louis in 1968 the lowest.
This is Eovaldi’s third season with the Rangers, who gave him the $100,000 All-Star bonus that is in his contract even though he was left off the American League All-Star team last month.
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