ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi will start Game 1 of the World Series for the Texas Rangers on Friday night against Zac Gallen and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Eovaldi, a Texas native who signed with the Rangers last offseason, will make his first career World Series start. The right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four starts this postseason, including the AL Wild Card Series and AL Division Series clinchers, and the must-win Game 6 of the AL Championship Series at Houston on Sunday night.
“Nate’s had plenty of rest, he’s ready to go,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks, who traveled to Texas a day after clinching the NL pennant in Philadelphia, will start Gallen, an All-Star right-hander who is 2-2 with a 5.24 ERA in his first postseason. The 28-year-old started Arizona’s openers in the NLDS and NLCS after winning 17 games during the regular season.
Bochy didn’t say who will start Game 2, though Eovaldi and left-hander Jordan Montgomery have been the key starters for Texas this postseason. Montgomery is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA, including the Game 7 victory in Houston with 2 1/3 innings in relief on Monday night.
The 33-year-old Eovaldi is 8-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 15 career postseason games, including 10 starts.
His only previous World Series experience came with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, when he made relief appearances in each of the first three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eovaldi pitched the final six innings of Game 3, which went 18 innings. Max Muncy led off the bottom of the 18th for the Dodgers with the game-ending homer.