Nathan Eovaldi flirts with perfection as Tampa Bay Rays rout New York Mets 9-0

The weather was nearly perfect and so was Nathan Eovaldi. The right-hander retired his first 18 batters, C.J. Cron hit an early three-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays routed the New York Mets 9-0 on Sunday. "The fastball location was really there, and the cutter," Eovaldi said. "Those two pitches I really felt like I located probably the best I could have." Eovaldi took a perfect game into the seventh before Brandon Nimmo lined a leadoff single to right field. Nimmo was quickly erased on a double play, and Eovaldi faced the minimum while needing only 79 pitches to get through seven innings.