Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven strong innings against one of his former teams and the Texas Rangers recorded a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees Wednesday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Eovaldi (3-4) turned in his second scoreless start this season and rebounded nicely after getting tagged for four homers during six innings in an 8-1 loss to the Athletics on Friday.
Eovaldi, who pitched for the Yankees in 2015-2016, allowed four singles and New York was 0-for-9 against his splitter. The veteran right-hander tied a season-best with seven strikeouts, walked one and threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes.
Josh Jung hit a two-run single in the fifth after the Rangers loaded the bases against New York’s Elmer Rodriguez (0-1). Sam Haggerty added an RBI single in the seventh after entering the game in the fifth for Brandon Nimmo, who exited with right hamstring tightness after getting hurt running between first and second.
Rodriguez allowed two runs on four hits in four-plus innings during his major league debut. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out three and walked four before exiting after Jung’s single to left field.
Rodriguez left the bases loaded in the second by retiring Nimmo but encountered trouble in the fifth. He hit Alejandro Osuna with a pitch, walked Ezequiel Duran and gave up a single to Nimmo that caromed off Ben Rice’s glove when the first baseman was playing in on the grass.
New York’s Jasson Dominguez exited in the fourth with a bruised right elbow after getting hit by Eovaldi’s cutter.
Rice had three hits for the Yankees, who went 7-2 on their nine-game road trip and lost for only the second time in their past 12 games. New York also was blanked for the second time this season.
After Eovaldi exited, Jacob Latz pitched two scoreless innings for his third career save to complete the Rangers’ third shutout.
