Home Cooking: Nathan Eovaldi Electric Again, Texas Rangers Beat Houston Astros to Set Up ALCS Game 7
Houston – Who knows why Nathan Eovaldi pitches well when he plays in front of the home crowd?
Not the Texas Rangers' home crowd at Globe Life Field, where he finished the regular season 6-3, but his own personal one.
Growing up just 40 minutes outside downtown Houston in Alvin, the 33-year-old right-hander always seems to shines when pitching at Minute Maid Park, even though he's never stepped foot on the mound while donning an Astros uniform. Even in moments where it seems like the dynasty that's dominated the diamond for seven seasons seems poised for a breakout inning, there's Eovaldi ready to shut the door.
And Sunday was no different in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Eovaldi delivered more than six standout innings of work to secure the 9-2 win over Houston and force a winner-take-all Game 7 Monday evening to reach the World Series.
“He's done it so many times,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “He has the ability to rise to the occasion. He has great stuff, start with that. But the makeup of this man, it's amazing. He wants to be out there in a game like this."
Harry Houdini, David Blaine and the near-Houston native all have something in common: They're magicians when working out of jams. Houdini was known for his larger-than-life stunts that captivated audiences in the early 1900s. Blaine enthralled fans with his tricks that thought the witchcraft was real.
Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is 4-0 in the 2023 MLB playoffs.
But Eovaldi doesn't need sleight-of-hand moves to get batters guessing at the plate. He relies on a good fastball mixed in with three other pitches that often send hitters packing. It happened in Game 2's 5-4 win with a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning and no outs attached to his name.
Six days later, it was more of the same. Eovaldi, 4-0 this postseason, worked his way around runners at the corners with one out in the first inning to stop Houston from opening the floodgates after a Yordan Alvarez RBI single.
He did it again in the fourth after intentionally walking Alvarez to put two on in the third, trusting his curveball would get Jose Abreu to secure the final out.
"I have a little more confidence facing Abreu, even though he's an extremely talented hitter, but I've had a little more success against him," Eovaldi said. "So wanted to attack him that way and kind of go from there."
Eovaldi was dialed in after allowing Jose Altuve to cross home plate. He gave up just three more hits, two coming to Alvarez and struck out four in 6 1/3 innings. Even with three walks and a hit by pitch against Martín Maldonado in the fifth, the veteran acted like nothing could faze him, finding different ways to end the frame and leave runners stranded.
Baseball is the ultimate team sport, even when outings turn into a game of pitch-and-catch between two men for the rare occasion of 27 consecutive outs. Those in the clubhouse took time to praise Eovaldi for his tone-setting performance to force a deciding showdown.
Eovaldi took time to credit Jonah Heim's effort in helping him find his rhythm following a rocky 25-pitch first inning.
"I felt like once I get back on track now we're working together," Eovaldi said. "As opposed to me having to rely on him. I thought he did an unbelievable job back there behind the plate."
Performances like these are expected from Eovaldi in the public eye. Internally, he probably holds himself to a similar standard. And well he should, especially given his track record as of late.
In his last 10 postseason starts, Eovaldi has won nine. And the lone loss, a 5-0 defeat against the Astros in 2021, could partially fall on an inept offense unable to pick up the slack in a one-run performance.
It's a shame scientists haven't found a way to create cloning machines prior to Monday's matchup. The Rangers would love to have a second version of Eovaldi waiting behind glass to shatter in case of emergency.
Instead, Texas turns to three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to secure the AL Pennant for the first time since 2011. Maybe a bit of Eovaldi has rubbed off on him during conversations between innings since the tone-setter of Game 6 seems confident he'll get the job done.
"He's been in the situation before," Eovaldi said. "He knows how to go out there and compete and pitch. I think he's definitely going to be a lot better than his last outing."
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