Nathan Eovaldi. (Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Nathan Eovaldi--not Rick Porcello--will start for the Red Sox tonight opposite Luis Severino. The righty's never pitched in the playoffs, but he's made three starts against the Yankees since joining the team in late July, and he hasn't allowed an earned run in 16 innings. Eovaldi's held the Yanks to a .115 average, with 13 strikeouts and three walks.
Manager Alex Cora trusts him.
"We know he's gonna be throwing hard, and he's going to mix it up," Cora said. "He's had success against them, seems like this is a good matchup. Obviously in the playoffs, game planning is part of it, and I know they're going to be ready, but we will too. We trust his stuff. He can even get away with mistakes, you know what I mean? Like, when you throw 100 and you place it in the right spot."
Eovaldi's ready to go.
"I mean, it definitely gives me confidence, just knowing that I've had recent success against them," Eovaldi said. "I'm trying to do the same thing that I have been doing--stay aggressive, try to get that first-pitch strike out of the way. Trying to keep the ball in the ballpark, trying to get quick outs, try not to get the crowd get too crazy and get behind them and get them going. I feel like the key to that is working ahead and staying ahead, not giving them the free bases, little things like that."
First pitch is at 7:40 p.m.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports