A 16-hit night backs Eovaldi in victory
The Texas Rangers scored a robust six runs while the Boston Red Sox tallied just one run.
One inning into Bret Boone’s time as hitting instructor and Joc Pederson already had a hit and the Rangers already had a lead.
Either these guys weren’t a big fan of Donnie Ecker by the ignominious end to his tenure or he’s sitting at home right now sporting a wry smile, shaking his head at what transpired tonight at Fenway Park.
After an entire season of misfortune at the dish — levels of lack of offense that got Ecker canned before the start of this road trip — the Rangers put up six runs on 16 hits, including a five-run fourth inning that had ‘em doing a conga line around the bases like they were the Gas-House Gorillas.
Everyone in the starting lineup aside from Josh Jung got in on the act before the evening concluded with hitters four-through-eight collecting eleven hits, including Adolis Garcia reaching each time with three hits and walk.
Meanwhile, Josh Smith contributed three hits, a walk, and an RBI out of the leadoff spot. Smith is now batting .330 on the year as unquestionably one of Texas’ rare bright spots at the plate.
The six runs were more than enough, as the Rangers also got excellent pitching. Pairing the bats with the arms gave Texas consecutive victories for the first time since they swept the Angels back in mid-April.
The win also helped the Rangers move back to .500.
Player of the Game: Any number of hitters were deserving of this nod to kick off the Boone era with only the seventh game on the year in which Texas scored at least six runs.
But tonight’s starter Nathan Eovaldi also deserves praise for continuing to be one of the best pitchers in baseball. Thankfully, this time, the hitters offered him some support. Eovaldi moved to 3-2 on the year as he tossed six innings of one-run ball on five hits, a walk, and seven strikeouts.
Eovaldi has now gone six innings in each of his last four starts and has allowed four runs total in those outings, dropping his season ERA to 2.03.
Up Next: The Rangers will try to prove that their new Boone-fuel batting is no fluke as they send RHP Tyler Mahle to the mound opposite RHP Tanner Houck for Boston.
The Wednesday evening first pitch from Fenway Park is set for 5:45 pm CT again and will be shown via the Rangers Sports Network.