Eovaldi gets 1st career complete game; Boston beats the Orioles
BOSTON — Nathan Eovaldi pitched a sevenhitter for his first career complete game, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 on Saturday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. The Red Sox posted their eighth win in 10 games after blowing two six-run leads in a loss on Friday night. The matchup was tied at 3 before slumping Bobby Dalbec’s pinchhit homer in the sixth inning.
Rafael Devers hit four hits for Boston, and Kike Hernandez added a tworun single.
Robinson Chirinos belted a two-run shot for Baltimore. The Orioles have lost three of four.
Eovaldi (2-2) threw 108 pitches in his 211th major league start. The 32-yearold right-hander allowed two earned runs, struck out six and walked one.
It’s the most starts 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.
Boston’s bullpen was tagged for 10 runs on Friday.
“He was great, especially in the second part of the game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We needed to re-set (the bullpen) at one point.”
Cora didn’t know it was Eovaldi’s first complete game until it was over.