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Eovaldi updates All-Star résumé by shutting down Houston Astros

When Texas Rangers catcher Jonathan Heim was announced as American League starter in this year’s All-Star Game, he had just one thing to say about the potential starting pitcher “Hopefully I’m catching [Nathan Eovaldi].” Referring to Nathan Eovaldi.

The All-Star pitchers will be named tonight and on Saturday, Eovaldi made one last start to beef up his résumé which was ironically against the Houston Astros.

Eovaldi delivered a masterclass before a sellout crowd of 40,380 at Globe Life Field. The Rangers ace pitched seven scoreless innings on only two hits and five strikeouts, leading Texas to a 5-2 win in a big AL West matchup against the Astros that evened the four-game series at one match apiece.

On the other end of the pitch, the offense knocked Astros starter Hunter Brown around, tagging him for three runs on 10 hits. Texas totalled 15 hits and would have blown the match open if they had not gone 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position.

But Nathan was undoubtedly the star of that show.

And if he is named to the All-Star squad, he will be joining Heim and three other Rangers – Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Josh Jung in Seattle to participate in the Midsummer Classic.

“I mean it’d be a huge honor to be able to go out there,” Eovaldi said. “We’ve got four of our guys starting in the game. They’ve done an outstanding job this season, and all four of them had a great game today as well. To be able to go out there, and not only to be able to represent the Rangers but to be able to play alongside those guys would be a huge honor.”

Eovaldi did everything possible to prove he belongs there on Saturday.

He commandeered the Astros’ lineup facing only two over the minimum and not allowing a hit over his final five innings of work. He forced more double plays (3) than he permitted hits (2).

“He was good,” Baker said. “The thing about him is he throws ground balls. I think he threw up double plays every time we got something going. I noticed he’s leading the league in double plays. We just had the shortstop-itis.

“Between the third baseman and the shortstop, I don’t know how many outs [we hit into] … they probably had 10 combined. They had us played right, and we couldn’t keep the ball off the ground. He was tough. He kept the ball down, in, out, mixed in his fastball with his slider and his split-finger. He threw a real good game against us.”

Fresh off a June 25 start in New York where he felt he did not give his best, Eovaldi made certain mechanical adjustments to his arm path over the last week which helped him utilize his pitch mix to its fullest potential.

Against Houston, he used the four-seamer 29 per cent of the time, which matches his season averages, but he threw the curveball 21 per cent of the time, way above his usual 12.8 per cent. He added the cutter (19%), splitter (18%) and slider (14%) for a full five-pitch mix that kept the Astros hitters on edge for seven innings.

“Looking back at it, I feel like a lot of times I get too predictable out there,” he said. “Being able to rely on my splitter, my cutter, the curveball when I’m behind in counts to help me get back ahead in the count or just in the bat, I think that’s helped me out a lot.

Eovaldi will probably get one more start before the All-Star break, but this was by far the first half he has had in his career. Saturday’s meeting lowered his ERA to 2.64 on the season. Before his first All-Star appearance in 2021, Eovaldi had a 3.66 ERA entering the break.

“I think you start with the stuff,” Bochy said of Eovaldi’s success. “He’s got a good fastball, big fastball, and then the cutter and curveball and splitter. He’s got the four-pitch mix. He’ll go to both sides of the plate. He’s got a game plan when he goes out there.

“But I think you have to look at the man himself. He’s just a tough competitor. He’s been through a lot of battles, not just during the season but postseason. It’s all the little things you like from a pitcher.”