Eovaldi wins 6th straight decision, Seager has 4 RBIs, Rangers beat Tigers 5-0
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - MAY 29: Nathan Eovaldi #17 of the Texas Rangers throws a first inning pitch while playing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on May 29, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT - Nathan Eovaldi won his sixth straight decision, Corey Seager hit a three-run homer with four RBIs and the Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-0 on Monday.
Eovaldi (7-2) allowed four hits and a season-high three walks in five innings with four strikeouts. He is 6-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his last eight starts.
"I was a little frustrated with my mechanics and my misses in general — I didn't feel like I've been able to attack the zone and the hitters like I've been able to," Eovaldi said.
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Brock Burke, Jonathan Hernández and José Leclerc finished a five-hitter, the Rangers' fifth shutout this year.
The Rangers are 34-19, matching the 1996 team for the best 53-game start in Senators/Rangers history. They will reach the one-third mark of the season on Tuesday.
"It feels good, but you have to keep marching," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's only a third of the season, so we have a lot of games left. I love the way we're playing, though."
Matthew Boyd (3-4) gave up five runs on five hits and four walks in six-plus innings.
Detroit (25-27) had won four of its previous five games and had been trying to reach .500 for the first time since a 4-4 start in 2022. The Tigers have been shut out five times.
"I liked our selectiveness at the plate — we got Eovaldi out after five innings — but we couldn't come through with a big hit," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "We've gotten those hits more often lately, but it didn't happen today."
Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the first but Eric Haase hit a grounder to first that Nathaniel Lowe turned into a forceout at the plate and Andy Ibanez hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
"When you've got the bases loaded with no outs against a really good pitcher — one who has been extraordinarily effective — that's a really big spot," Hinch said. "They were conceding the run up the middle, but Lowe was in a bit at first, so he makes the throw, then they get the double play. That's tough."
Seager drove a curveball into the right-field seats in the fifth for his fifth homer this season, following walks by Robbie Grossman and Marcus Semien.
Semien hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Seager followed with an RBI single.
Semien singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 18 games.
ROSTER MOVE
With RHP Dane Dunning on the paternity list, the Rangers selected the contract of RHP Grant Anderson from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned LHP Cody Bradford to Round Rock. To make room on the 40-man roster, Texas designated RHP Ricky Vanasco for assignment.
ROOKIE STREAK
Josh Jung singled in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the sixth-longest in franchise history for a rookie and four away from Elvis Andrus’s 16-game record in 2009. Jung came into the game tied for sixth with a 2021 streak by Andy Ibáñez, who was Detroit's first baseman on Monday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
OF Kerry Carpenter (shoulder) continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Sunday, going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
UP NEXT
RHP Alex Faedo (1-2, 4.19) starts for Detroit on Tuesday and LHP Martin Pérez (6-1, 3.83) for Texas.