Rangers' disappointing loss to Tigers had one silver lining for the pitching staff

The Texas Rangers were the recipients of a pretty tough loss to the Tigers on Monday. Despite getting eight hits in a game started by Detroit's all-world Tarik Skubal, including three extra-base hits, the Rangers' offense only managed one run in a performance that fill-in manager Will Venable accurately described as "not good."

However, not all the news was bad. Nathan Eovaldi was fantastic, pitching into the sixth inning while giving up just one run on three hits and striking out seven. Given the Rangers' pitching injuries this year, they are going to need a lot more of that out of him.

Despite Rangers' loss, Eovaldi's dominance is great news going forward

This was just Eovaldi's second start since returning from the groin injury that put him on the IL. Texas was careful to ease Eovaldi back in for his first start back as he only went three innings, but Monday's performance gives a lot of hope that he is fully healthy and ready to anchor the Rangers' rotation again.

The Rangers are going to need that to happen because there isn't a rotation in baseball that has been more decimated by injuries this year than Texas' starting five. We knew that Jacob deGrom was going to be out for a while as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery, but Max Scherzer has had multiple setbacks during his rehab, Cody Bradford's freak broken rib is going to keep him out for a while, and now Jon Gray is on the shelf with his own groin injury.

Despite all of that, Texas has managed to hang around in the AL West and are just 4.5 games back of the Mariners after Monday's loss. If the Rangers are going to have any hope of making a run back to the playoffs, Eovaldi is going to have to keep doing exactly what he just did and hope that the offense decides to show up.

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