Nathaniel Lowe homers twice on his bobblehead night as Rangers win 7-0 over Padres
The Texas Rangers had a Nathaniel Lowe bobblehead giveaway as a promotion ahead of Tuesday night’s 7-0 win over the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field.
Lowe responded with his first multi-home run game since July 1, 2021, going 2-4 with two home runs, four RBIs and two runs scored.
“I’m just getting to a point where I can drive the ball. First basemen that don’t hit homers, don’t stick around often. I value my job and my team values this job and the team needs me to drive the ball to win games. So it’s been nice to be able to come through this last week,” said Lowe.
Lowe joked after being selected for a random drug test following the game that he would take them every game if he could hit multiple home runs.
“I’ll stick around and give him a sample every night if I have to,” said Lowe.
Lowe’s fifth multi-home run game — coupled with Nathan Eovaldi’s shutdown pitching and Josh Smith’s dazzling defense at shortstop — gave Texas its second-straight win after going 1-6 on the road.
Lowe has been on a tear over the last month, batting .280 with four home runs, 17 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy spoke about Lowe’s recent surge at the plate.
”He’s just doing a little better job of catching it out front a little bit more. He’s got big power,” said Bochy, “I’ve seen it and it’s all about getting your timing. Timing on the fastball and the change up, which he hit out tonight and he’s a good hitter. Good hitters get hot,” said Bochy.
The Rangers bobblehead giveaway was a celebration of Lowe’s selection for the 2023 Golden Glove Award, the first of his career.
Lowe’s excellence at the plate was equaled on the mound by Eovaldi, who had his best outing since returning from a right groin strain on May 28.
Despite his stellar outing, Eovaldi found room for improvement in his performance.
“I felt like I wasn’t really locating my fastballs earlier in the game, but I started to locate it better as the game went on,” said Eovaldi, “I felt like I had a really good feel for my cutter, the whole game and I was able to use that pitch a lot of the times like when I was behind in the count. I felt like I relied on that pitch a lot tonight.”
Eovaldi threw seven scoreless innings giving up only one hit with six strikeouts.
Rookie Jonathan Ornelas earned the first extra-base hit and RBI of his career with his double in the bottom of the sixth inning off Padres pitcher Austin Davis to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead.
The Rangers will face the Padres at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Globe Life Field.
This story was originally published July 2, 2024 at 9:30 PM.
