Texas Rangers Houdini: Nathan Eovaldi Escapes 5th Inning Jam, Beats Houston Astros in ALCS Game 2
HOUSTON — Nathan Eovaldi needed to pull something out of nowhere during a pivotal moment for the Texas Rangers in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Minute Made Park on Monday.
The Houston Astros had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth inning, trailing the Rangers by three runs, with a desperate partisan crowd ready to erupt for an Astros rally.
Instead, the right-hander recorded strikeouts of pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz and lead-off hitter Jose Altuve before getting Alex Bregman to ground out to third and the Rangers held on to win 5-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS.
The Houdini escape was complete and Eovaldi emphatically pumped his right arm as he followed Josh Jung's throw to first base for the inning-ending out.
Instead of going to the bullpen, Texas manager Bruce Bochy trusted Eovaldi with the game – and possibly the series – on the line.
"I can't thank him enough for that opportunity," Eovaldi said of Bochy. "It's one of those situations where, 'OK, it's cool. He's leaving me in here. You got to get the job done.' Fortunately, I was able to do that today."
Eovaldi used every pitch in his arsenal. He got Diaz swinging on a 79-mph curve ball. He struck out Altuve on four pitches — each something different: a curve ball, followed by a 94-mph cutter on the outside edge of the plate with help from the umpire. He sent a 95-mph four-seam fastball way up-and-in which Altuve took for a ball, before getting him swinging on a 90-mph split-fingered fastball down in the zone.
"He's Evo, he's always calm, cool, and collected," Catcher Jonah Heim said of Eovaldi's demeanor with the bases loaded. "That's just who he is. We just tried to limit the damage, but if we could get out of there with no runs, it's a huge momentum shift and sucks the air out of the stadium, and when the stadium gets quiet, we're doing something right."
Eovaldi wasn't just nails when it mattered Monday. He put together his third strong postseason start by holding the Astros to three runs on five hits and a walk over six innings. The 33-year-old pitcher grew up in nearby Alvin, home of baseball legend Nolan Ryan.
On Monday he did his best impression of the MLB's strikeout king. Eovaldi struck out nine, his most since striking out nine against the Los Angeles Angels on June 15.
His lone walk came with one out in the sixth. Michael Brantley scored Yordan Alvarez with an RBI double to center field to pull the Astros to within 5-3, but Eovaldi struck out Chas McCormick to end the inning and strand Brantley.
Solo homers by Alvarez in the second and Bregman in the fourth were about the only mistakes Eovaldi made.
The ALCS now moves to Globe Life Field in Arlington with Game 3 scheduled for 7:03 p.m. Wednesday.
You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.
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