50-33 - Nate’s still nasty as Rangers triumph 5-2 over Astros

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Houston Astros scored two runs.

I’m tired of writing about it but, no, the calendar flipping over to July wasn’t an instant cure for the Texas bats as the Rangers went a remarkable 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position today and left 11 on base.

With 15 hits, this easily could have been a blowout victory. Instead, the lineup just didn’t put the right sequence together to make things comfortable as they cobbled together a run here and there, benefiting eventually to some sloppy play from Houston. Luckily, that was enough, as in a closer contest, this game would have been infuriating.

The difference between this game and some of the more dubious ones from June is Texas did eventually get some crumbs of production in RISP situations and were backed by a May-esque Nathan Eovaldi outing.

Nevertheless, no one is going to be mad at a 5-2 win over the chasing team in the division. The Rangers are 1-0 in July and back to five games up in the AL West, RISP misfortune be damned.

Player of the Game: After a couple of games of decreased velocity, Eovaldi was back throwing 96 on the fastball today and back to being nearly unhittable as Houston mustered just two base hits off the AL May Pitcher of the Month in his seven innings.

The only real blemish for Nasty Nate was the usually surgical veteran uncharacteristically walking four Astros, but he was never in much danger as he often erased danger with three double plays.

Eovaldi now has 10 of the Rangers’ 50 wins as he gave Texas exactly what they needed today to even this series. If the Rangers haven’t already crowded the AL roster too much, Eovaldi deserves a slot in Seattle.

Up Next: Another heater in the hallowed Silver Boot series will see a pitcher to be named for Houston match up against LHP Andrew Heaney for Texas.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CT and you can check in out on BS Southwest.