Nathan Eovaldi pitches 7 innings in Rangers’ 3-0 win over Yankees to avoid series sweep
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi allowed four hits over seven scoreless innings, hot-hitting Josh Jung had a two-run single and the Texas Rangers beat the AL-best New York Yankees 3-0 on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Jung’s grounder through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded in the fifth inning put Texas up 2-0 and chased Elmer Rodriguez (0-1), a top Yankees prospect making his big league debut. Jung has hit .381 (32 of 84) with 17 RBIs over 24 games in April.
Sam Haggerty added an RBI single in the seventh for Texas. He had entered as a pinch-runner in the fifth after Brandon Nimmo experienced right hamstring tightness when running the bases.
Nimmo, the Rangers’ new leadoff hitter who is batting .290, said after the game he was fine and expects to be ready to play in their next game Friday.
Eovaldi (3-4), who gave up four homers against the Athletics in his previous start on Friday, struck out seven and walked one against the Yankees. He threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes against the team that entered the game with a majors-best 48 homers.
Jacob Latz struck out one and allowed a hit over the final two innings for his second save, and wrap up the Rangers’ third shutout this season.
New York (20-11), which had won 10 of its previous 11 games, was held scoreless for the second time this season. In a sign of frustration, Jazz Chisholm Jr. slammed his helmet against the dugout bench after flying out in the ninth.
Rodriguez walked four and struck out three. His first big league strikeout came on what became a strange double play in the first inning, and he got out of another bases-loaded jam in the second.
Jung signaled for a challenge of a 96.5 mph sinker on a called third strike while Nimmo, who led off with a walk on five pitches, was thrown out at second on an attempted stolen base.
Up next
A day off for both teams. After an 7-2 road trip, the Yankees open a three-game series at home against Baltimore on Friday night, when Texas plays at Detroit.
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