Eovaldi seeks another strong outing vs D-backs

Nathan Eovaldi will try to continue his recent turnaround Monday night when the Texas Rangers begin a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Arlington, Texas.

After struggling through the opening stretch of the season, the veteran right-hander has shown signs of regaining form. Eovaldi enters the matchup with a 4-4 record and a 4.15 ERA after delivering two strong outings against the New York Yankees, one of his former teams.

The Rangers needed those performances during a difficult stretch in which they lost five of six games before responding with consecutive shutout victories over the Chicago Cubs. Chicago had entered the series riding its second 10-game winning streak of the season before Texas handed the Cubs back-to-back losses by scores of 6-0 and 3-0.

Eovaldi struggled early in the year, allowing 23 runs and 9 home runs over his first 6 starts. However, he has looked far more composed recently, tossing seven scoreless innings on April 29 before allowing just one run over eight innings in his latest appearance.

“He had such a good game plan, such a good feel for swings,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “He has a game plan but also can navigate a game on his own as good as anybody, based on what he’s seeing.”

The 36-year-old owns a 3-1 career record with a 4.17 ERA in 11 appearances against Arizona.

The Diamondbacks are expected to counter with right-hander Michael Soroka (4-2, 4.14 ERA), who is attempting to rebound from consecutive losses. Soroka was hit hard by Milwaukee on April 30, surrendering eight runs in just three innings, but bounced back with a much stronger performance against Pittsburgh last week despite taking a 1-0 defeat.

Soroka has limited experience against Texas but excelled in his only career appearance versus the Rangers, throwing six scoreless innings while pitching for Washington last June.

Texas could again lean heavily on Josh Jung, who has regained momentum at the plate. Jung recorded consecutive three-hit games after enduring a 0-for-12 slump and previously carried a 13-game hitting streak.

Meanwhile, Corey Seager continues to search for consistency. The Rangers star has gone hitless in his last 14 at-bats with six strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .193.

Schumaker acknowledged that Seager’s heavy workload may be contributing to the struggles, as the shortstop has started 19 consecutive games without a day off.

“Corey and I talk every day about how he feels and where he’s at physically, but the other part of this is, you’re trying to win a series, right?” Schumaker said before Sunday’s game. “He’s still our best player. I don’t care what he did yesterday or the day before. It means something to us when you see him in the lineup. We do have a day circled here soon.”

Arizona enters the series with renewed confidence after winning the final two games of its set against the New York Mets. The Diamondbacks allowed just two runs combined in those victories.

One bright spot for Arizona was rookie Ryan Waldschmidt, who collected his first three career RBIs in Sunday’s 5-1 victory over New York while also making a key defensive play to preserve Eduardo Rodriguez’s no-hit bid.

“I took off for it. I knew I was getting close to the fence, but I was going to do whatever I could to catch that ball,” Waldschmidt said. “I was going full speed into the wall, catch or not. I’m glad I was able to make that catch for him and keep that thing going.”