'That's baseball': Eovaldi's gem spoiled in 8th

BOSTON -- It sure looked like it was going to be a feel-good Saturday at Fenway Park. Nathan Eovaldi was a strike-throwing machine and once again, a Yankee killer.

But shortly after Adam Ottavino came into the game with two outs in the eighth, the narrative changed.

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The Yankees roared all the way back from a 3-0 deficit and turned the tables with four runs in that game-turning eighth to stun the Red Sox, 4-3.

“Fortunately I was able to get us where we needed to be with the bullpen, and I’m going to take my chances with those guys every day of the week,” said Eovaldi. “I felt like they’ve done an outstanding job for us and they didn’t necessarily hit the ball hard. They just hit it in the right spots. That’s baseball, and that’s kind of the things we have to deal with.”

Though most of the significant damage was done off Ottavino, the momentum started to turn when Eovaldi gave up an RBI single to Brett Gardner on his 100th and final pitch of the day to slim Boston’s deficit to 3-1.

Gardner belted an 0-2 curveball -- the fifth pitch of the at-bat -- for the key knock.

“He was able to get a good swing on it, and he’s a good hitter and he was able to get the job done for them,” credited Eovaldi.

Once that happened, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought Ottavino in for the same type of situation he’s used him in all season. Entering the game, Ottavino had stranded 19 out of 20 inherited baserunners. But not this time, and partly due to bad luck.

Ottavino gave up a bloop, ground-rule double down the line in right to Giancarlo Stanton. Then came the big hit, as Rougned Odor pounded a game-tying, two-run double off the Green Monster. Gleyber Torres made it 4-3, Yankees, on another bloop to right, this one an RBI single.

Per usual, the highly-professional Ottavino offered no excuses.

“I feel good about the process. I feel terrible about the results,” said Ottavino. “The results are the only thing that matter. There’s no context to the score of this game. We lost the game, I didn’t get the job done. I’m not going to make an excuse.”

This isn’t to say the two bloopers didn’t cause some frustration for the veteran righty.

“Yeah, I think if you see my body language during the game, it’s probably pretty clear that I was stunned by the whole ordeal,” Ottavino said. “But then again, it’s baseball. It’s a cruel game sometimes. I’ve been through a lot of crazy stuff before and this was just another chapter in that. Just going to turn the page.”

As for Eovaldi, his strong performance should not be overlooked even in defeat. He scattered seven hits and two runs while walking none and striking out eight.

Most impressive was the fact that 82 percent of Eovaldi’s pitches were for strikes -- the highest percentage of his career.

“I feel like I made a few mechanical adjustments yesterday to help with my timing and I felt like that showed today,” said Eovaldi. “I felt like I was able to get them active today when I needed to, and then take the pitches out of the zone. I didn’t necessarily feel like I was filling up the zone, but I was able to get them to chase the pitches when I needed them.”

Since joining the Red Sox, Eovaldi has made 10 starts against the Yankees (including the postseason), notching a 2.08 ERA and giving up two runs or fewer in nine of those outings.

“He was on a roll. He was doing a great job,” said Gardner. “He had command of all of his pitches. He did a great job, especially against me, of getting ahead early in the count. As good as his stuff is, he's not a guy you really want to be behind against. It was good to finally get him out of the game and obviously get into the bullpen."

A loss would have dumped the Yankees 10 games behind the Red Sox in the American League East. Instead, they cut it back to eight and can salvage a split of the four-game series with a win on Sunday.

Boston is now tied for first place in the AL East following the Rays' win over the Indians.

“It’s a tough one,” Cora said of the loss. “That’s baseball, right? We always talk about making contact in certain situations. They did it. Stanton put the ball in play. Odor goes the other way. Gleyber does the same thing. It’s not a three-run homer, but that’s how it works. Sometimes it works to your advantage. Tonight, it didn’t work to our advantage.”