No Freebies from Texas Rangers Ace Nathan Eovaldi in July

Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi is on a strikeout-walk streak never done before in franchise history.

Jul 24, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) throws during the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

No walks for a month? That’s the streak Nathan Eovaldi is on right now.

The leader of the Texas Rangers staff this season is on a run never seen before in franchise history. Eovaldi has gone five starts in July without issuing a walk, a span of 33 innings. Even more, he’s struck out 30 batters over that stretch.

According to Stathead, he is the first Rangers pitcher to ever record at least 30 strikeouts and zero walks over a span of five outings. The last MLB pitcher to pull the trick was Toronto’s Kevin Gausman in 2022.

Eovaldi has faced 141 batters without a walk since issuing his last free pass to Willy Adames on June 26 at the Milwaukee Brewers. The streak is impressive. Eovaldi has been, too, all season.

The Rangers ace struck out a season-high 10 batters over 7.0 innings in Wednesday night’s 10-2 crushing off the Chicago White Sox. Eovaldi allowed only four hits, two runs and threw 66 of his 98 pitches for strikes to earn the win.

It was the third 10-plus strikeout game by a Rangers pitching this season (Andrew Heaney had the last with 10 on July 30 at the Baltimore Orioles) and Eovaldi’s first since May 11, 2023 at the Oakland Athletics (career-high 12).

Eovaldi (7-4) also has a team-leading nine quality starts and six ultra-quality starts (7.0+ IP, 2-or-fewer ER) this season. Over five starts this month, he is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and allowed a .203 opponents’ batting average.

But more importantly, his start Wednesday helped secure a fourth straight win for Texas. The Rangers (50-52) are only three games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West and feeling like they’re right back in the race.

“The energy in the clubhouse is definitely a lot better than it has been,” Eovaldi said, according to MLB.com. “It doesn't matter who you're playing out there, when you win you win. There's a lot of energy in the dugout now and that's what I feel like we were missing throughout the season”

---

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and X.