ARLINGTON, Texas - Nathan Eovaldi did not need a starting assignment to change the night.
In his second appearance since a month on the injured list with elbow inflammation, the right-hander threw four scoreless innings of one-hit relief, retired his last 11 batters, and finished the game as the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Wednesday at Globe Life Field.
The Associated Press credited him with the win that pushed Texas to 76-76 and into a first-place tie with Houston in the AL West after the Astros lost to Kansas City.
CBS Sports' pitching line lists Eovaldi (11-9) at 4.0 innings, one hit, no runs, no walks and one strikeout on 46 pitches. ESPN's box matches that line and shows a 4.07 ERA. It was long relief with starter's stakes: a one-run game when he entered, a division race when he left the mound for the last time.
Bridge after Gore's exit
MacKenzie Gore opened and worked four innings, allowing two hits and three walks without a strikeout before Jakob Junis took over. Boston briefly led 3-2 in the fifth on Junis' balk that scored a runner from third. Wyatt Langford's RBI single tied it again, and the bullpen door swung toward Eovaldi once the seventh-inning offense arrived.
Brandon Nimmo's tiebreaking double and Ezequiel Duran's two-run single gave Texas a 5-2 lead in the seventh against Erik Miller. Eovaldi protected it and then some. One hit over four innings, last 11 retired, ballgame over. Willson Contreras' 27th homer in the first had been Boston's loudest swing; after that, the Red Sox managed almost nothing against Texas pitching the rest of the way.
Justin Foscue had doubled on Jake Bennett's first pitch and later tied the game with an RBI single. Josh Jung collected three hits. The Rangers piled up 13 hits to Boston's three. None of that mattered if the seventh-inning lead walked back out the door - and Eovaldi made sure it did not.
