Right-hander Cade Cavalli looks to continue his torrid stretch on Wednesday when the Washington Nationals face the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.
Cavalli (10-5, 3.36 ERA) will try to help Washington end a four-game losing streak and even its three-game series against Texas. The Rangers recorded a 5-0 victory on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Cavalli is 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA over his past seven starts, striking out 46 batters and walking 10 in 44 innings.
Cavalli turned in the best performance of his young career in his last outing, yielding one hit and striking out 10 batters over eight scoreless innings to beat the Chicago Cubs. The only hit he allowed was an opposite-field single by Michael Busch in the seventh inning.
“He was really sharp today with the curveball, his sweeper and the four-seam (fastball),” catcher Keibert Ruiz said. “I think at 95 pitches, he was still touching 98-99 (mph). That’s really tough to face.”
Cavalli has yet to pitch against the Rangers in his career,
Right-hander Kumar Rocker (4-9, 4.50) will get the start for Texas on Wednesday.
Rocker has struggled in August, going 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA over three starts. Last time out he allowed three runs – all in the first inning — on four hits and five walks over five innings of a no-decision against the Athletics.
Rocker, 26, has yet to face the Nationals in his career.
Happy to be home after a 2-5 road trip, the Rangers scored early and cruised to victory on Tuesday night. Cal Quantrill went seven innings and Justin Foscue homered and drove in two runs in the win.
“For Cal to go seven innings to start this series after an off day was huge,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “I asked for a really good start and I asked our offense to give him a cushion and both sides accomplished that.”
Wyatt Langford reached base three times and scored twice, and Brandon Nimmo, Cody Freeman and Corey Seager each had two hits. Seager recorded back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time since April 23-34.
“It’s a difference maker when he’s in the lineup ,and today he hit the ball really hard,” Schumaker said of Seager. “It’s just nice to have him in the middle of the order providing offense.”
The Nationals were shut out for just the fourth time this season. They have scored a total of eight runs while losing four straight games.
They managed just seven hits and one walk against Quantrill and three relievers.
CJ Abrams had a double and a single after going 0-for-10 against the New York Mets over the weekend. He could make the move from shortstop to second on Wednesday.
“When he gives me the thumbs up, when our coaches give me the thumbs up, when both those things are in place, that’s when we’ll do it,” manager Blake Butera said before Tuesday’s game.
–Field Level Media
