'True competitor' Nathan Eovaldi kept Astros at bay and reinforced Rangers' belief

Last offseason, a conversation with Bruce Bochy and Chris Young helped Nathan Eovaldi buy into the vision in Texas. 

The Rangers' manager and general manager pointed to their team's offensive production last year, selling Eovaldi on an offense that had scored more runs than the Mariners and only 30 fewer than the World Series champion Astros, two playoff teams and divisional foes who finished ahead of their 68-win club. 

All they needed, they told him, was more pitching. Even after revamping the rotation with Jacob deGrom and Andrew Heaney in early December, mutual interest remained.

"My agents did an extremely good job of just staying consistent with it," Eovaldi recalled to FOX Sports this summer. "They called back around Christmastime, were like, ‘Hey, y'all wanted him to begin with, he's still available, you've got the money. Go make it happen.' And they were able to make it happen." 

Ten months later, that decision to add another reliable arm with postseason pedigree has the Rangers two wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 2011. 

On Monday, Eovaldi delivered his third straight quality start to begin the playoffs, highlighted by a fifth-inning Houdini act in Houston that could end up being the defining moment of the American League Championship Series, which returns to Arlington for Game 3 (FS1, 8:03 p.m. ET) with the Rangers holding a 2-0 lead. 

"A lot of the guys in the dugout were saying how loud it was in the stadium," Eovaldi said after going six innings in the 5-4 Game 2 win. "To me, you get that tunnel vision, that extra focus, and you block everything out." 

The Rangers offense that Eovaldi was sold on struck quickly in Game 2, handing him a 4-0 lead before he took the mound. In a blink, though, it threatened to collapse. 

Eovaldi's club led by three runs in the fifth inning when Michael Brantley and Chas McCormick singled and a short-hop grounder from Jeremy Peña snuck under the glove of third baseman Josh Jung, loading the bases with no outs. In a game-saving, series-altering sequence with the Astros' lineup approaching its third time through the order, neither Eovaldi nor his manager wavered. 

Bochy said he likes to think of himself as a blend between the old-school and modern. In his 26th season, he wants all the information he can get — but he also trusts the instincts that got him where he is. With Game 2 in the balance, and the Astros threatening, he stuck with the pitcher who had brilliantly and confidently navigated the highest-pressure October moments before. 

Eovaldi escaped with no damage done — a crucial turning point in a game decided by a run. 

"I can't thank him enough for that opportunity," Eovaldi said. "It's one of those situations where you know it's like, ‘OK, cool, he's leaving me in here?' You've got to get the job done." 

Five years ago, Eovaldi demonstrated his fortitude and desire to win during Boston's 2018 championship run. Two days after firing six innings in Game 3 of the ALCS against Houston, Eovaldi emerged from the bullpen and added another 1.1 scoreless innings of relief to help the Red Sox advance to the World Series, where he threw a scoreless inning in Game 1, another in Game 2, then fired six innings of relief in Game 3. The only run he allowed versus the Dodgers came in the 18th inning of the longest game in postseason history. 

"It bothers me that it was a loss," Eovaldi said, recalling that last outing. "I feel like you go that far, you want to come out on top in that game. Obviously, I know the significance of the game, and it all worked out for us in the overall run, but for me, personally, it bothers me that it was the only loss in the World Series. But that's the competitor in me."

This October, there is no such loss to speak of. He is 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA, 24 strikeouts and one walk for a surging Rangers club that is 7-0 to start the playoffs. Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was still in the minor leagues at the time Eovaldi helped Boston make its 2018 run, but he remembers watching it — and his pitcher — well. 

"We kind of joke about it all the time, just clubhouse banter, but it was impressive to watch then and impressive to watch now," Heim said before Eovaldi's Game 2 start. "He's a true competitor. He's going to give you everything he's got and give us a chance to win." 

That was essential on Monday, as Heim helped Eovaldi maneuver around his toughest test yet.

Over the last five years, Eovaldi had faced the Astros in the playoffs five times. He pitched against them twice this year, the first time going seven scoreless innings on July 1. The most recent meeting prior to the postseason came on Sept. 5, Eovaldi's first game back from a forearm strain, when he went just 1.1 innings. He wasn't himself then. It took him the rest of the month to find his first-half form, but it's back at the most important time of year. 

Facing a familiar foe, Eovaldi used his five-pitch mix differently Monday in Houston. After throwing primarily four-seamers in his July gem, nearly a third of his pitches in Game 2 were splitters, which induced a combined 12 whiffs and called strikes. He ditched the slider but expertly mixed in his four-seamer, cutter and curveball. 

It was that last pitch that got Yainer Díaz swinging out of the zone for the first out of the fifth inning. He then went to the bottom of the zone with a splitter to get José Altuve swinging. After coolly escaping the bases-loaded threat on a groundout by Alex Bregman, Eovaldi finally let out the emotion as he walked back toward the dugout. 

"I felt like that was the turning point," Eovaldi said.

Houston continued to chip away at the Rangers' lead, but the fifth-inning escape made all the difference. The Rangers were 14-22 in one-run games during the regular season, with more blown saves than converted saves on the year; after Monday's effort, they're 2-0 in one-run games and 3-for-3 in save opportunities this postseason. 

They've been put in that position by a starting staff that is 5-0 with a 2.21 ERA, led by a three-time champion manager pushing all the right buttons at the right time and a Texas native whose decision to join the Rangers back in December has him in prime position to add another ring to his mantle. 

"We've been hot right now," Eovaldi said. "Keep it going." 

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and MLB as a whole for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers' editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.