ARLINGTON 
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – APRIL 7: Nathan Eovaldi #17 of the Texas Rangers pitches against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Globe Life Field on April 7, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) Ron Jenkins Getty Images
Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi came into Tuesday’s game sporting an 11.42 ERA, and after giving up a home run to Seattle’s Brendan Donovan on the game’s first pitch it might’ve seemed like another rough outing was underway.
However, Eovaldi found his groove, and the Rangers went on to win their second straight over the Mariners, 3-2, at Globe Life Field.
Eovaldi, a Houston native, talked about how he rebounded for his first quality outing after two tough starts to begin the season.
“I was just leaving way too many pitches middle, whether I’m trying to get ahead of the zone or get ahead or limit the walks,” Eovaldi said. “I just felt like I got to make better quality pitches, and today I kind of went in there trying to be aggressive, pound the ball inside, execute some good splitters, and had better results.”
Eovaldi gave up two runs off six hits in six innings of work with seven strikeouts, including the 1,500th of his career. He aggressively went after batters, throwing first pitch strikes 72% of the time, and induced 13 swings and misses.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker pointed out Eovaldi’s cutter when talking about his performance postgame.
“Seventy percent pitch strikes; splitter and cutter were probably the best pitches of the night, he was changing eye levels with his fastball, a lot of weak contact,” Schumaker said. “Thought our defense played really well behind him. He caught. I mean, [Kyle Higashioka] had a great game, but, I mean, I thought they worked really well together. So just overall really good mix of pitches and on the attack all night.”
After the first inning, Eovaldi threw three straight scoreless innings before the Mariners added another run with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Eovaldi knew he needed to limit the damage with two outs.
“That fifth inning, I got two outs and had a guy, 0-2, 1-2, and I give up a base hit, and then the inning kind of unfolds, a walk, a two-out walk, like, those are the little things that I got to be better at controlling and just attacking the hitters,” said Eovaldi. “It’s a 1-0 ball game, and I’ve got to go out there and really just bear down and attack. I had my pitch count down, and I think I threw 32 pitches that inning, and given how much we’ve been using our bullpen — they’ve been doing an extremely good job — but I also want to be able to take that burden off of them.”
Eovaldi’s splitter was in prime form. He produced five strikeouts off the pitch, including two of the last three batters he faced, who whiffed at the pitch.
Game notes
The Rangers’ offense put up a crooked number in the fifth inning, the first time the team has scored three runs or more in an inning at home, which equaled the total amount of runs they had scored over their previous three games.
Kyle Higashioka hit his first home run of the season in that fifth inning, a two-run shot that gave the Rangers the lead.
Jacob Latz continued his torrid start to the season by throwing two scoreless innings in relief. He has held opponents to 0 for 28 at the plate to start the season, setting a franchise record.
After losing out to Kumar Rocker for the final roster spot in spring training, Latz has been nothing short of excellent in any role the Rangers have needed, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Jacob Latz, I mean what a performance,” Schumaker said. “I thought his slider was really good, change-up, fastball, combination righties and lefties. That second inning — with right, left, right against the heart of the lineup — was not easy.” All along, it’s been just like, ‘yeah, whatever you need,’ after I told him he didn’t win the fifth starting spot, right? I mean, it could have gone another direction. That just shows you the growth and maturity, such a pro, and we’re lucky to have him.”
Jakob Junis came in and got the save for the Rangers. Junis put two runners on base with no outs before getting back-to-back batters to fly out to the outfield before Higashioka took a dribbler and rocketed a throw to first, with an excellent extension from Jake Burger, for the game’s final out.
The Rangers are set to close out heir series with the Mariners at 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday at Globe Life Field before heading on a nine-game road trip.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM.
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Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.