Nathan Eovaldi’s shutout streak for Rangers over at 29 2/3 innings, longest in MLB this season

Associated PressMay 18, 2023, 12:09 AM EDT
Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
1 Comment

ARLINGTON, Texas – Nathan Eovaldi‘s shutout streak for the Texas Rangers ended at 29 2/3 innings when he gave up a two-run homer against the Atlanta Braves.

Eovaldi pitched a 1-2-3 first inning to extend his career-best streak, the longest in the majors this season. Austin Riley led off the Braves second with a single before Eddie Rosario went deep.

It marked the first runs allowed by Eovaldi since April 24, when he gave up three in the third inning at Cincinnati before three scoreless innings to end that start. He followed with a three-hit shutout against the New York Yankees, threw eight scoreless innings against the Angels and then came within one out of another complete game last Thursday when Texas won 4-0 at Oakland.

Eovaldi, a Texas native, signed with the Rangers in free agency this winter. He got a $34 million, two-year contract that includes performance bonuses and a conditional player option for 2025 that could make the deal worth $63 million over three seasons.

Texas is the sixth team the 33-year-old Eovaldi has pitched for in his 12 big league seasons.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 9:19 PM EDT
dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
0 Comments

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”