Nathan Eovaldi records his first complete game shutout against Yankees

Nathan Eovaldi grew up in Brazoria County, Texas and threw his prep baseball at Alvin High School, just like another Texas legend, Nolan Ryan. And like Ryan, Eovaldi went out to California where he honed his craft before making his way back to Texas. In Eovaldi’s case, he came to Arlington via New York and Boston.

Now wearing the Rangers uniform, he took the mound against his old team, the Yankees, and threw a complete game shutout.

The first of it’s kind in his career, Eovaldi was emotional when discussing it afterward. “It means a lot to me. I think it’s just being able to use all my pitches at all times. I was able to use my slider. I usually hang that pitch and they end up hitting it. I was able to get two or three outs with my slider.”

In a game that has increasingly depended on ever-decreasing pitch counts and situational bullpen use, just getting a complete game in is a feat in itself. Eovaldi wound up throwing 113 pitches and surrendering just 3 hits and no walks as the Yankees fell 2-0 to Texas.

The Yankees know Eovaldi well and manager Aaron Boone said, “Classic Nate when he’s really on top of it. He kind of bullied us. He used both sides of the plate, was a little bit unpredictable between slowing us down a little bit with the curveball, but obviously, the cutter and the split. And stuff-wise, he was throwing hard.”

Texas manager Bruce Bochy agrees. “He was on. He had all four of his pitches, great command and he maintained it all night.”

Bochy may have had his mind on the task at hand, but he didn’t forget to be a fan for just a little while, and enjoy what he was seeing. “It’s fun to watch it when elite pitchers like that get locked in. Nate just did a terrific job. You appreciate the stuff, the command, throwing four pitches at any time. I appreciate it, too, as a fan. It was just a fun game for me to watch.”

This is the first time that the Rangers battery included both Eovaldi and catcher Jonah Heim since spring training. Heim was adamant that Eovaldi’s control made his job behind the plate straightforward. “Whatever I put down he seemed to execute so that makes my life easy and we can just follow the game plan until we need to make some adjustments. He was cruising.”

Nate Eovaldi is the first native Texan to throw a complete game shutout for the Rangers since Roger Pavlik did it on back in 1995. Nolan Ryan did it six times wearing the Rangers uniform.

With this win, Texas improves to 16-11, extending their lead over the Houston Astros at the top of the AL West to two games,