ARLINGTON -- Gary Clark Jr.’s cover of the Beatles' song “Come Together” echoed over the speakers at Globe Life Field in the sixth inning on Wednesday night as the crowd of 26,364 fans rose with anticipation.
Nathan Eovaldi’s warm-up song isn’t typically played mid-game. That’s obvious for the Rangers’ co-ace, who has been the anchor of the rotation since joining the club in 2023.
But as Eovaldi continues to work back from an elbow injury that kept him sidelined for five weeks, and a postseason push at hand, he’s now made two relief appearances since his activation on Sept. 12.
“I heard his song as I was coming up the steps, and I was like, ‘Oh shoot, here we go,’” said Rangers third baseman Josh Jung.
When Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said it was all hands on deck for this final 12-game stretch of the season, he wasn’t kidding. That meant using Eovaldi for four innings to keep Texas neck and neck with the Red Sox on Wednesday night.
The Rangers finally took their first lead of the evening with a three-run seventh, propelling the club to a 7-3 win over the Red Sox to secure a series victory and get back to .500 (76-76).
“I heard the crowd when he came in from the bullpen; that was pretty exciting,” Schumaker said. “I think it all gave us a boost of energy as well in a big series. What he provided was enormous.”
It was Eovaldi’s third career relief win, and his first since Aug. 14, 2019, against the Guardians as a member of the Red Sox. He retired the final 11 batters he faced, becoming the first Rangers pitcher to earn the win and throw four or more scoreless frames to end the game since Jamey Wright on Sept. 25, 2007, against the Angels (W, GF, 4 SHO IP).
“It felt almost like a closer coming into the game,” Schumaker said. “You know that type of feeling in the ninth inning when the music goes on, and the lights go out, that type of feeling. But it was early in the game, you're just not used to feeling it. But I felt it.”
The win also allowed the Rangers to pull even with the Astros in the American League West, though Houston owns that tiebreaker. Texas still sits one game back of the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
“I know what Evo means to this organization, to the fanbase, and to that clubhouse,” Schumaker continued. “You know to see him walk out of that bullpen in front of the home crowd in a tie game and then to end up closing the game, you know that was a significant moment and you know something that I'll remember for a long time.”
Eovaldi was forced into action, yes, because of the stakes, but also in part because starter MacKenzie Gore went just four innings as he battled with muscle spasms throughout his abbreviated outing. Though he could pitch through it, it was obviously affecting his control and command way more than usual.
Gore allowed a two-run homer to Willson Contreras in the first inning to immediately put the Rangers behind the eight-ball. Things went from bad to worse when Gore grabbed at his shoulder area after a 2-1 pitch to Caleb Durbin in the second.
There was a brief mound visit between Gore, Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and head trainer Matt Lucero. Gore remained in the game and pitched into the fifth, but his velocity remained significantly down across the board, as did his command. He threw 69 pitches and just 36 for strikes.
But when Gore exited the game, Schumaker felt like Eovaldi would be the one to carry them to the finish line.
He did exactly what “Big Game Nate” does, right as the Rangers enter the final stretch of the regular season.
“I definitely feel like there's a different energy out there,” Eovaldi said. “We're playing really well. Mack battled tonight, but we were able to fight back and get and tie the game up, and then it's 3-3 for the majority of the time until the seventh. Guys are playing well. The bottom part of our lineup's producing, the top part is still doing their thing. Defense has been great. Right now we've been playing really good baseball, and we just got to keep going.”