Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run in his first start since Aug. 7, and Danny Jansen helped spark the bottom of the lineup as the Texas Rangers’ playoff hopes lived to see Game 162.
MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing has come easily for the Texas Rangers this season, or, as the record shows, their entire history. They needed 52 years to win a World Series.
So, this should have been expected. Maybe not going into the final day of the season at 80-81, but going into the final day of the season with a chance to win the American League West. And they’re going to need some help to make it happen.
But the Rangers got what they needed Saturday: a win. Furthermore, they needed the pitcher nicknamed Big Game to deliver in a big game, and Nathan Eovaldi lived up to the moniker.
Eovaldi allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings, throwing 71 pitches when the Rangers thought he might have only 50 in him, and Danny Jansen helped fuel a banner day by the bottom of the lineup in a 6-2 victory over the Twins.
The Astros also won Saturday to remain tied with the Rangers for the AL West lead. Houston holds the tiebreaker, so for the Rangers to win the AL West, they must win and the Astros must lose to the A’s.
MacKenzie Gore will start Sunday, and the Rangers need a repeat performance — not just from Gore but from the bullpen and the offense.
“The entire season’s on the line,” Eovaldi said. “We’ll go out there and play tomorrow and see what happens from there.”
The Twins scored a run in the first inning against Eovaldi, who was making his first start since Aug. 7 because of an elbow injury. He returned from the injured list as a reliever Sept. 12 and made four appearances from the bullpen.
The Rangers had a response for the Twins, and it came with two outs in the second. Nicky Lopez doubled and scored on a Jansen blooper. He scored the go-ahead run as Evan Carter followed with a double, and then Alejandro Osuna also doubled to make it 3-1.
Hitters six through nine went 4 for 4 in the inning, and leadoff man Brandon Nimmo capped the four-run frame with a third straight double.
“Up and down the lineup we just try to pass the baton and pull for each other,” Jansen said. “For me, it’s just trying to put something in play, and it happened to find a whole. Then it’s double, double, double sparking the offense, sparking the team. That’s huge for us to gain some momentum.”
Eovaldi took the baton and didn’t give in. He ran into some trouble in the third but pitched out of it. He got some help, too, including a diving stop at first base by Jake Burger in the first inning and a diving catch by right fielder Brandon Nimmo in the third.
Nimmo’s left leg started cramping in the second inning, but he had just enough to make a critical play that saved two runs. Lopez left the game after three innings because of an ankle injury after landing on first base awkwardly.
“Multiple guys banged up did not want to come out of that game,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “They knew what was at stake. It also started with Evo.”
Schumaker stuck with Eovaldi into the fifth even though he hadn’t thrown more than 46 pitches in almost two months. Eovaldi struck out three, and Jansen said that the stuff didn’t decline as the pitch count grew.
Schumaker called Eovaldi’s outing “insane.”
“That was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve seen in a long time,” he said. “You trust the player. You trust the person. You trust the competitor. I didn’t know if he was going two go two innings, maybe three.”
Jansen homered in the fourth, and Burger connected in the fifth for 6-1 lead. Eovaldi allowed two one-out hits before giving way to Robert Garcia, who quickly induced an inning-ending double play with a runner a third.
The Twins scratched across a run in the eighth against Tyler Alexander, but Jacob Latz struck out the side in a perfect ninth to set the stage for the final day of the season. The Rangers know the assignment.
“We have to win,” Jansen said. “We felt that way today as well. I think we’re all excited just to be out there and play and compete and put it all on the line.”
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
