ARLINGTON -- Wherever there’s a big game, you can be sure to find Nate somewhere around there.
Saturday night’s matchup between the Rangers and Mariners was as big of a big game that any starting pitcher can have in the regular season. The whole weekend is, honestly, with the top two teams in the American League West facing off just a week and some change away from the Trade Deadline.
Regardless of the record of either team at this moment, this is the kind of series that could determine the division come the end of September.
Big Game Nate delivered.
Rangers co-ace Nathan Eovaldi tossed seven innings of one-run ball while striking out eight on Saturday night, helping the Texas to a 7-1 win over the Mariners to secure the first two of a four-game wraparound set at Globe Life Field.
Eovaldi cruised through the first four innings, allowing a walk and a single but facing just one over the minimum thanks to a caught stealing. The Mariners got on the board in the fifth with a pair of two-out hits from Luke Raley and J.P. Crawford. But Eovaldi easily cruised through his final two frames to keep Seattle from getting within striking distance.