Watch: Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi escapes bases-loaded jam
The Houston Astros put pressure on Nathan Eovaldi in the fifth inning. Eovaldi responded in a big way.
Houston loaded the bases with no outs after singles from Michael Brantley and Chas McCormick, followed by a mishandled ground ball by Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung. Leading 5-2, it was a huge opportunity for the Astros, down 1-0 in the American League Championship Series.
Opportunity was not a lengthy visitor. Eovaldi got Yainer Díaz swinging on a curveball out of the zone, Jose Altuve swinging on a splitter and Alex Bregman to ground out to Jung, who redeemed himself by throwing out Bregman to end the threat.
Eovaldi wasn't perfect in this game, yielding leadoff home runs to Bregman and Yordan Alvarez. But with runners on, he toughened up, giving the Rangers their fifth start of 6+ innings in seven playoff games — and the third from Eovaldi himself.
He's helped keep the Texas bullpen fresh and covered for the absence of ace Max Scherzer. But Scherzer is back for Game 3, which could give Texas manager Bruce Bochy plenty of fresh arms to choose from ahead of a potential bullpen game in Game 4.
For the Astros, they may have blown their best scoring chance — and opportunity to steal Game 2.
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