Eovaldi stops the bleeding for the Red Sox

Jim Monaghan
Content Coordinator

Nathan Eovaldi had clearly seen enough.

Five home runs allowed on Saturday in a 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays, followed by eight more home runs in an 18-4 drubbing, both at Fenway Park.

Photo courtesy of USA Today
Eovaldi (pictured) took the mound Monday night faced with the task of slowing down an offense leading Major League Baseball in home runs and slugging percentage. His response was to throw three perfect innings and not allow a hit until a one-out Bo Bichette single in the top of the fourth.

Ultimately, Eovaldi went 6.2 innings - his longest start of the season since April 7 when he went 7.0 innings - holding Toronto scoreless on three hits and a walk while striking out four.

Eovaldi got right to the point after the game. "I think it takes one starter to go out there and do a great job, and it kind of resets everybody. Everybody gets that breather. We didn’t have to really use that many guys tonight, which was big. Our defense was awesome. It was a close ballgame all the way to the last out. I feel like that brings us together as a team, and tonight I was able to provide that for us.”

The Red Sox offense didn't give Eovaldi a whole lot to work with - an RBI double by Alex Verdugo in the bottom of the third held up until Matt Barnes served up a home run ball on an 0-1 pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr in the top of the ninth.

Rafael Devers singled home Verdugo in the bottom of the inning to give Boston a very much needed win.

Manager Alex Cora acknowledged that it had been a horrible week pitching-wise up until Eovaldi's performance Monday night. "For us to keep going and stay where we are, we have to pitch."

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