ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cade Cavalli struck out 11 over six innings for his second double-digit strikeout game in a row and retired the final 11 batters he faced as Washington beat Texas 6-0 on Wednesday night.
Cavalli (11-5) limited the Rangers to three singles and walked one while throwing 58 of 84 pitches for strikes. He was pitching six days after 10 Ks while throwing one-hit ball over eight scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs. The right-hander is 7-1 his last 10 starts.
José Tena put the Nationals (61-67) ahead to stay with a solo homer in the third, and Andrés Chaparro’s third hit in the game was a towering 415-foot drive for a three-run homer in the seventh that made it 6-0. Washington has an MLB-high 182 homers.
The Nationals had lost four in a row and six of seven, a stretch in which the only other win was Cavalli’s against the Cubs last Thursday when he didn’t allow a hit until the seventh.
Will Dion, Max Kranick and Jake Bird each pitched an inning to wrap up Washington’s fifth shutout victory. Texas (62-65) dropped out of the American League’s third wild card spot.
The first eight outs for the Rangers came on strikeouts before Brandon Nimmo’s groundout ended the third. Cavalli got his 10th K in the fourth.
Kumar Rocker (4-10) struck out three while allowing two runs and six hits over his five innings. The right-hander is 0-2 with a 6.87 ERA in his four games since ending July by winning consecutive starts.
Up next
Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom (8-8, 3.95 ERA), with an extra day of rest after leaving his previous start a week ago because of triceps fatigue, goes into Thursday’s series finale with 1,998 career strikeouts. Lefty Andrew Alvarez (2-4, 3.72) is set to start for Washington.
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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
