PHOENIX - Nathan Eovaldi's night was not about the six-run fifth. It was about getting back on a major-league mound in a role he had not filled in years.
Activated from the injured list (elbow), Eovaldi pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief Saturday and allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks as the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2, the Associated Press reported. It was his first relief appearance since 2019. ESPN's box matches that line: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Texas had already broken the game open before he entered. Wyatt Langford's leadoff homer and a cascade of hits - including Ezequiel Duran's two-run single - produced six runs in the fifth after a replay review kept Corey Seager safe at first. Robert Garcia (1-1) had worked a clean fifth for the win.
Eovaldi's job was to cover the middle of a bullpen night after Kumar Rocker's four-inning start (one run, five strikeouts).
First relief look since 2019
Eovaldi inherited a 6-1 lead and immediately faced traffic. Gabriel Moreno singled. Geraldo Perdomo singled. Corbin Carroll's sacrifice fly scored Moreno for Arizona's second run. Nolan Arenado was hit by a pitch. Tim Tawa grounded into a force. The damage stopped at one, and Eovaldi worked into the eighth before Jacob Latz took over.
For a two-time All-Star who has spent recent seasons as a starter, the outing was a bridge more than a showcase - pitch count managed, strike zone tested, and a club willing to use him out of the pen while the elbow returns to full starter length.
The AP framed the appearance as the first relief work of this chapter of his career in seven years.
