7-24 in 31 Games: The Angels Are an Absolute Wreck and Nathan Eovaldi Is Coming For Them

Holy smokes, folks, you gotta see what's happening south of us. While our Mariners are out there grinding, the Los Angeles Angels are in a full-blown freefall. They just smacked four dingers, their best offensive night in nearly a month, to win Friday's series opener against Texas. You'd think that'd be a turning point, right? Nah. They're trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since *early May*, and who do they get to face Saturday? None other than the red-hot veteran righty, Nathan Eovaldi. Talk about hitting a wall.

One Night of Spark in a Month of Misery

Friday night actually looked good for the Halos, for a minute. They dropped six runs, including two homers, on two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom in just three innings. Shortstop Zach Neto went yard twice, even leading off the game with a blast on deGrom's first pitch. Then there was Anaheim native Wade Meckler, making his first Angels start, crushing his first major league homer, a 403-foot, three-run shot, right into the bleachers with his parents watching. Seriously, that’s storybook stuff. Meckler, who walked on at Oregon State and got first-team All-Pac 12 honors, even made a highlight-reel backhanded catch sliding into the wall. He said it was a "pretty surreal moment" after growing up going to 50 or 60 games there. Angels manager Kurt Suzuki even said Neto and Meckler "really set the tone for the game."

Sounds like a party, right? Nope. That nine-run outburst was the first time they’d scored that many since April 26. The cold, hard truth is the Angels are sitting at a brutal 7-24 over their last 31 games. Let that sink in. A 7-24 stretch! Trying to string together two wins feels like a Herculean task for them right now.

Eovaldi Is On Fire and He Hates the Halos

So, who’s standing in their way of those elusive back-to-back wins? Nathan Eovaldi, the Rangers’ 36-year-old right-hander, is absolutely dealing. This dude is 5-4 with a 3.62 ERA overall, but check this out: he’s allowed just one run over 22 innings in his last three starts, winning all of them. He was even scratched from a May 11 start with left side tightness, but bounced back like a champ, throwing seven shutout innings against Houston on Sunday, allowing only five hits while striking out eight. He loved his splitter that night, saying, "I felt good. I thought I had a good game plan coming in. The curveball was good, the splitter was really good, and the sinker as well. It was just trying to attack the zone, not fall behind a lot of guys."

And guess what? Eovaldi OWNS the Angels. He’s 7-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 16 career appearances against them, including a ridiculous 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two starts last season. He barely gives them anything. The Angels are throwing rookie righty Walbert Urena (1-4, 2.70) against him, who has a solid 1.64 ERA over his last four starts, including six shutout innings in his last outing against the Athletics. But this is Eovaldi, man. This is a tough hill to climb for any team, let alone one stuck in this kind of rut.

It's wild watching other teams struggle to find consistency while our M's just keep grinding. Speaking of getting it done, our Seattle Mariners just handled business, shutting out the Kansas City Royals 2-0. That’s how you get things done, Emerald City! Let's keep that momentum rolling!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.