BOSTON — Nathan Eovaldi did what Gerrit Cole could not and pitched his team into the American League Division Series.
In a battle of hard-throwing right-handers, it was the Red Sox’s Eovaldi who lived up to the stage on the way to a 6-2 win over Cole and the Yankees in the AL wild-card game Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
Eovaldi gave up just one run and four hits over 5 ¹/₃ innings while striking out eight and walking none. He cruised through five dominant, shutout innings before getting an early hook in the sixth — after just 71 pitches, with the only blemish being an Anthony Rizzo home run to lead off the sixth inning.
“A lineup like that, you have to prevent the ball from leaving the ballpark and attack the zone,” Eovaldi said. “And I feel like if you can attack the zone, it’s going to make your job a little bit easier out there.”
It was a complete reversal from the last time the Yankees faced Eovaldi just 11 days ago. On Sept. 24 at Fenway, the Yankees shelled him for seven runs on seven hits, chasing Eovaldi after 2 ²/₃ innings. That night — an 8-3 win that started off the Yankees’ sweep over the Sox that catapulted them into Tuesday — Eovaldi issued two free passes and did not strike out a single batter.
Eovaldi said his mechanics were off in his last start against the Yankees and that he didn’t have his curveball or splitter. With the stakes raised Tuesday, he got back on track.
“Nate was great,” manager Alex Cora said. “We learned a lot last week. And I know a lot of people doubted us and they doubted him and all that, but we learned a lot last week and we executed our plan the way we wanted to, and he was amazing.”
Cole also pitched in that Sept. 24 game and tossed five shutout innings before giving up a three-run homer in the sixth. On Tuesday, he gave up two homers in two-plus innings before getting pulled with a 3-0 deficit.
Eovaldi, meanwhile, returned to being a thorn in the Yankees’ side. Entering the game, he owned a 3.03 ERA in 68 ¹/₃ innings against his former team as a member of the Red Sox. That included a playoff game in 2018, when he delivered seven innings of one-run ball against the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS.
“He’s so calm,” Cora said. “When he shows up to the ballpark, he’s the same guy when he pitches and when he doesn’t. He was waiting for this one. They did an amazing job on Friday. They took some pitches away, they hunted pitches in certain spots and they did damage. Like I said, we learned a lot from that.”