Eovaldi gets his first complete game in split
Pitcher had the most starts before achieving the feat in MLB history
Rougned Odor hit a three-run homer and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 Saturday to earn a split of a day-night doubleheader.
In the opener, Nathan Eovaldi pitched a seven-hitter for his first career complete game in Boston’s 5-3 victory.
Austin Hays and Ryan McKenna each added two hits in the nightcap for Baltimore, which has won two of the first three in a five-game series.
Christian Vazquez had three hits for Boston, which had won eight of 10.
Odor homered just over Boston’s bullpen to make it 4-0 in the third inning. The drive came after Ramon Urias hit an RBI single against 23-year-old righty Josh Winckowski (0-1), who made his major league debut.
Winckowski lasted three innings, giving up four runs and six hits.
Making his first big league start, 25-year-old righty Denyi Reyes held the Red Sox to one run over 32⁄3 innings.
Joey Krehbiel (2-3) pitched 11⁄3 innings in relief for the victory. Jorge Lopez got four outs for his sixth save.
In the opener, Rafael Devers had four hits for Boston and Kike Hernandez added a tworun single. Devers went 0-for-4 in the second game.
Eovaldi (2-2) threw 108 pitches in his 211th major league start. The 32-year-old righthander allowed two earned runs, struck out six and walked one.
It’s the most starts for a pitcher prior to throwing a complete game in MLB history, according to STATS.
“It definitely means a lot to me,” Eovaldi said. “Especially with how the game’s changing now and things like that, and injuries I’ve had.”
Eovaldi had Tommy John surgery twice — once in high school and again in 2016 — and was sidelined in 2019 after having “loose bodies” removed in his elbow a year earlier.
“Every starter wants to go out there and finish his start,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”
There was some applause when he trotted out for the ninth with the rarity of complete games in baseball.