Nathan Eovaldi silences the scorching Yankees for a second time in 8 days

NEW YORK (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi certainly has the New York Yankees' number — even if nobody else does lately.

The veteran right-hander cooled off Aaron Judge & Co. for the second time in eight days Wednesday night, pitching eight masterful innings for the Texas Rangers in their 6-1 victory.

“That’s the tough part, right? We don’t really do this very often, where we have to face that same team back-to-back starts," Eovaldi said. "Fortunately for me the last time it was a good one. I know I threw a lot of splitters and cutters. Today with the curveball being as effective as it was, it just allowed me to I guess rely on that pitch a little bit more, but also keep doing what was working before.”

Eovaldi threw 31 curveballs — his most in a game since 2019 with Boston, manager Skip Schumaker noted.

“The last two outings with Evo have been fantastic. I mean, today was exactly what we needed and hoped for against a really good lineup,” Schumaker said. “I thought there was a chance he'd go the distance, but I wasn't going to push him with a five-run lead.”

The 36-year-old Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star who pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, struck out a season-best eight and walked none, firing 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes. He allowed just three hits after tossing seven innings of four-hit ball in a 3-0 win over New York on April 29 at home.

"He was fooling ’em all night,” said catcher Kyle Higashioka, who spent 2017-23 with the Yankees. “He just uses all his pitches in a manner that just keeps people guessing, forcing them to commit hard or soft. I think it’s just, his stuff lends itself to really keeping guys off balance. He's always a tough at-bat and he really knows how to pitch. He’s got a great capacity for that. So I mean, it’s no surprise to me he shut ’em down twice.”

Each splendid performance snapped a three-game slide for Texas. In between, the American League-leading Yankees (25-12) scored 46 runs while going 5-0 against the Orioles and Rangers.

“You know how good that team is over there. Their game planning is elite, so you have to mix it up. You cannot get into patterns," Schumaker said. "I didn’t know what he was throwing, either. I mean, his game plan, he has such good feel for swings and what the hitters are trying to sit on. So, there’s a game plan but then he also goes out there and he can navigate a game on his own as good as anybody based on what he’s seeing. And that’s the part of the game that sometimes gets lost today, right?”

Eovaldi became the first Rangers pitcher to last longer than seven innings this year and improved to 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA in his last 11 starts against the Yankees since April 8, 2022.

“That’s the biggest thing for me is, I enjoy the challenge. I want to face the best teams, and I want to go out there and attack the zone as best I can,” Eovaldi said.

“I played here in Yankee Stadium enough to know like, how big the crowd plays into effect, how they can get the players going. It’s one of those things about being able to pitch on the road is just being able to try to take the crowd out of the game.”

New York had won eight in a row at home.

“They’re a good-hitting team, so they’re going to come out and learn from the last game, because he threw fantastic against them last week," Higashioka said. "They’re going to learn from that and they’re going to make adjustments, so we have to kind of figure out a way to mitigate that without straying too far from Evo’s strengths. So, he did a great job adjusting.”

Eovaldi thought he mixed his pitches well and said it helped that the Rangers scored early, building a 4-0 lead by the third behind homers from Corey Seager and Evan Carter.

That allowed Eovaldi to "just try to stay on the attack the whole time,” he said.

The only blip came when Judge hit his major league-best 15th homer with two outs in the sixth for the Yankees, who had won five straight games and 15 of 17. But that merely trimmed the margin to 6-1, and Eovaldi retired his final seven batters after that.

“It was an amazing outing," Schumaker said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities plan Thursday to enter the second day of their search of a the home connected to the man convicted of killing 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart in 1996, according to law enforcement.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office served the warrant Wednesday in the ongoing investigation into Smart's disappearance. Her remains were never found and she was declared legally dead in 2002. Paul Flores was convicted in October 2022 and ultimately sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Law enforcement searched a home in the central coast town of Arroyo Grande occupied by Flores’ mother, Susan Flores, according to public records and reporting by a podcast that has closely followed the case.

“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,” the sheriff's statement said. “No further information is available.”

The “Your Own Backyard” podcast, which helped investigators crack the case by bringing forward additional witnesses, first reported the search and said the home belongs to Flores' mother. Attempts to reach Susan Flores for comment Wednesday were not successful.

Smart went missing from California Polytechnic State University in May 1996 after returning from an off-campus party. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape and that the last person she was seen with was Flores, a fellow student.

Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested in 2021.

Prosecutors alleged Smart’s remains were buried on Ruben Flores’ property and later moved. He was acquitted of accessory charges. That property is different from the one searched on Wednesday.

Paul Flores was sentenced in March 2023 to prison, where he has been physically attacked at least twice.

In 2024, a judge ruled that Paul Flores must pay just over $350,000 to Smart's family for costs they incurred after her death.

The family has said it would forgo restitution if Flores would tell them where Kristin’s body was. Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, said in 2024 that the defense did not know where her remains are. Flores maintains his innocence.

The county district attorney’s office said Wednesday it was helping the sheriff's office with the investigation.

“While those responsible for Kristin’s death — and those with knowledge of her whereabouts — could provide answers at any time, we remain firmly committed to using every lawful tool available to locate Kristin’s remains and to support her family until she is brought home,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a statement.

FILE - This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart, the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996. (FBI via AP, File)

This photo provided by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office shows authorities conducting a search on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at a home in Arroyo Grande, Calif., connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart. (San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office via AP)