Rangers beat Padres 7-0, snapping 11-game skid
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe hit a pair of two-run homers, Nathan Eovaldi allowed one hit over seven innings and the Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres 7-0 on Tuesday night to end their 11-game losing streak in the series.
Eovaldi (5-3) struck out six while retiring 21 of the 22 batters he faced. The right-hander threw 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
Jonathan Hernandez gave up a hit over the final two innings to wrap up the Rangers’ eighth shutout this season.
San Diego, which had won nine of its previous 11 games, was held scoreless for the sixth time.
Texas snapped what had been its longest losing streak against a single opponent in franchise history, and dated to September 2018. It was San Diego’s most consecutive wins against another team, and MLB’s longest active streak.
San Diego’s only hit off Eovaldi was a single to right by No. 9 hitter Bryce Johnson, a .167 hitter, with two outs in the third.
That was two batters after Kim Ha-Seong’s grounder deflected off third baseman Jonathan Ornelas. Shortstop Josh Smith was running forward when he made a bare-handed pick off the one hop and threw in one motion to get the batter out at first.
Lowe put Texas up 2-0 when he pulled a pitch from Dylan Cease (7-7) into the seats in right field in the first inning. Lowe went the opposite way in the third, a 117-meter homer that just cleared the wall in left for a 5-0 lead.
It was Lowe’s
fifth
career multihomer game, his first since three years and one day earlier. It was also his third game in a row with multiple hits, and sixth in an 11-game span when he has 12 RBIs.
Leody Taveras had a pair of doubles, the first one driving in a run. He scored after the other one when Marcus Semien snapped an 0-for-18 slide with a bloop single that made it 6-0 in the fourth. Taveras walked leading off the sixth and scored when Ornelas doubled for his first career RBI.
Cease allowed six runs on eight hits, six for extra bases, in 3 2/3 innings that matched his shortest start of the season. He struck out five and walked two.