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Rangers, Nathan Eovaldi seek to keep Yankees in slump
Nathan Eovaldi, the American League pitcher of the month for July, will take the ball for the Texas Rangers when they clash with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night in the second contest of a three-game set in Arlington, Texas.
Rookie Will Warren (6-5, 4.64 ERA) will start for the Yankees in a battle of right-handers.
The Rangers captured the series opener on Monday, beating the Yankees 8-5 when Josh Jung ripped a two-out, three-run homer in the 10th inning. Texas has won two of its past three games while the Yankees have dropped four straight.
Eovaldi (9-3, 1.49 ERA) won all five of his starts in July while lowering his ERA from 1.87 to 1.49. He allowed just three runs (two earned) and struck out 30 batters in 30 2/3 innings, amassing a minuscule 0.59 ERA and ending the month with his 100th career victory with a win over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday.
“(Eovaldi) is so competitive,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of the 35-year-old. “He has that intestinal fortitude that you love and that maniacal focus, man. Every pitch, he keeps his poise out there. He gets in a jam, he just gets better. That’s what good pitchers do — great pitchers — and I consider him a great pitcher.”
Eovaldi hasn’t lost a decision since May 22, when he allowed just one run on five hits and a walk over six innings in a 1-0 loss to the Yankees in New York. That setback dropped him to 5-6 in 23 appearances (20 starts) versus the Yankees, with an ERA of 3.44 in 117 2/3 innings.
Eovaldi has struck out 108 Yankees’ batters in his career, his most against any team.
Warren, 26, has been solid if not outstanding, making 23 starts for the Bronx Bombers in 2025 after going 0-3 in 22 2/3 innings as a late-season call-up last year. He went 1-1 in six starts last month and has not recorded a decision since a home loss to the Cubs on July 13, with three no-decisions since.
Warren’s most recent start was on Wednesday versus Tampa Bay at home when he gave up one run on six hits and a walk over six innings in a game the Yankees won 5-4 in 11 innings. At 110 2/3 innings for the year, he’s approaching his career high of the 132 1/3 he amassed last year in the combined stints at Triple-A and for the Yankees.
“I think I’ve gotten into a good routine of how to bounce back every five [days] instead of seven like you do in the minor leagues,” Warren explained. “Last year I never really got my feet solid in the ground and could bounce back if I had a bad one. The difference this year is just the ability to bounce back. I feel good, I feel strong. Just taking it one week at a time.”
Warren has one career outing against the Rangers, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing five hits and a walk and striking out 10 in a 5-2 victory over Texas on May 20 in the Bronx.
–Field Level Media
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