Eovaldi done in by rough 8th inning after stellar start

ARLINGTON -- After being removed early from his previous start due to injury concerns, Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi stayed in a little too late against the Twins on Saturday in a 5-2 loss at Globe Life Field. The Rangers’ timing has often been off lately, as they’ve now lost seven consecutive series.

Through seven mostly dominant innings, Eovaldi allowed only one earned run and three total baserunners. But in the eighth, Eovaldi gave up three consecutive singles without getting an out, and ultimately took the loss when reliever David Robertson couldn’t work the Rangers out of the bases-loaded jam.

Entering the eighth, Eovaldi had retired 12 Twins in a row. He had thrown 94 pitches, a modest amount for him. He had six strikeouts and no walks. And he was “adamant” that he could continue after the seventh inning, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.

“He got better and better as it went,” Bochy said. “He felt great -- believe me, we checked with him after the [seventh] inning. ... With Nate, he’s our guy. He’s our ace. He assured us [he] couldn’t feel better. The pitch count was not that high. Where he was as far as the innings, the [lack of] stressful innings, really, he was pitching very efficiently.”

Just six days after tightness in his right side forced him out of a game at Yankee Stadium after only three innings -- and necessitated his flying home early to see the team physician -- Eovaldi was on the verge of completing a gem Saturday.

After yielding a leadoff single to start the game, Eovaldi retired the next nine batters in order to cruise through the first three innings. Trevor Larnach dinged Eovaldi with a solo homer to start the fourth, and the next batter singled, but then Eovaldi breezed through the next 12 hitters.

“Physically, I felt fine,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like the first two or three innings, I was kind of all over the place. The velos were scattered, the pitches weren't as sharp as I wanted them to be, but I felt like I made the adjustments as the game went on.”

Given Eovaldi’s history and the way he was pitching Saturday, it wasn’t shocking to see him come back out for the eighth. He expected it. Bochy expected it. Even Twins manager Rocco Baldelli expected it.

“I’m never surprised by anything Nate Eovaldi does,” Baldelli said. “I know Nate, I’ve seen him pitch a lot. I’ve seen what he does in big situations. He’s always there for his team. We talk about guys being workhorses -- he is that label. ... Being in a situation like that and taking the ball back -- no, you’re not going to see many guys anywhere for any team in any situation do it. But if anyone’s going to do it, it’s him.”

Instead of putting the finishing touches on a victory, though, Eovaldi gave up three hits in a row to end his night. After Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez singled, Austin Martin barely beat out a bunt single to chase Eovaldi.

The veteran reliever Robertson then surrendered a two-run single to Willi Castro. Another run scored on a throwing error by center fielder Leody Taveras on that play.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting us out of that situation, especially when Boch trusts me to be out there,” Eovaldi said.

It’s encouraging for the Rangers that their most dependable pitcher is fully healthy and capable of dominating one of baseball’s hottest teams as long as Eovaldi did. It’s undeniably discouraging that none of that was enough to avoid their 16th loss in the past 21 games.

“We have a responsibility to come out here and keep trying to win ballgames and do all we can, and that’s what we’re doing,” Bochy said. “Granted, it’s not going well. But we’ll come out here and try to power through this.”