You’ve got to hand it to Nathan Eovaldi. Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he battles.

Last night he walked five batters, three in the first inning alone, to put himself into a hole 1-0. Once again, the Rangers allowed first-inning runs and had to fight from behind.

Yes, he gave up five walks. But he allowed only three hits. Struck out eight. He left runners stranded in the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. And only that one first-inning run. An Evan Carter solo shot in the second and a Marcus Semien solo shot in the eighth was all the offense the Rangers could generate. But it was enough for a 2-1 win over the Reds.

That’s because the real story is the Rangers bullpen. Yes, those words were actually typed. The Rangers bullpen has been amazing. The bullpen nearly derailed the team last season.

Last night: nine batters faced, nine batters retired. The game before: the exact same thing, nine batters faces, nine batters retired. In fact, since Austin Pruitt gave up two runs to the Braves on Saturday, the Rangers bullpen has been nothing short of brilliant, pitching 17.1 innings, giving up only one run, for an ERA of 0.52.

In fact, here’s a breakdown of the bullpen this week. 

After some early season meltdowns, the bullpen has quietly, under the radar, been phenomenal. 

With this bullpen, and Max Scherzer bolstering the rotation, when the bats finally come around and the Rangers can score more than a couple runs per game off a couple solo homers per game, this team will be dangerous.

*****

TODAY’S GAME: