deGrom flushes Raleigh HR -- and right knee discomfort -- to help Rangers snap skid

ARLINGTON -- The most defining at-bat of Jacob deGrom’s start against the Mariners on Monday night came in the first inning.

Riding a four-game losing streak, Texas looked toward its ace to stop the bleeding. But it wasn’t going to be easy. With one out in the first inning, deGrom battled with the 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, who fouled off seven pitches to work a full count.

On the 12th pitch of the at-bat, deGrom left a four-seamer middle-middle, which Raleigh promptly sent a Statcast-projected 418 feet into the right-field stands and the Rangers stood at a one-run deficit barely 10 minutes into the evening.

“He laid off some good pitches and fouled off some good pitches,” deGrom said. “I made a mistake over the middle of the plate and he got to it. So I gotta tip my hat to him there. It was a great at-bat. Unfortunately, he got me, but we were able to win the game.”

deGrom buckled down afterward, cruising through the rest of his outing. The first-inning homer was the only hit that he allowed, and only two other Mariners reached base: Luke Raley (walk in the second) and Julio Rodríguez (E5 in the fourth).

The Rangers ultimately snapped the losing streak thanks to some timely hitting, opening the three-game set against the Mariners with a 2-1 victory. deGrom threw just 78 pitches in the win, 15 of which were in Raleigh's two at-bats.

“That was a really good battle [with Raleigh] early on,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He made a really good swing against a really good pitcher. It was two guys going at it. I think you can live with the solo home run. I think any pitcher would tell you that. We kind of had an idea that it wouldn't really phase Jacob. He was going to be on the attack right away. That’s exactly what he did. He's just such a great pitcher and just a lot of fun to watch.”

Schumaker said deGrom “felt a little something” in his right knee in the bullpen before the start, and though it didn’t really affect him during the game, the staff didn’t think it was necessary to push him too hard.

“We were contemplating the sixth [inning],” deGrom said. “I said I can do it. We decided to just make sure it's fine … It's a little tender, but I think we'll be OK.”

In fact, despite a relatively brief outing, Monday was the perfect kind of baseball game for deGrom, who was making his 250th career start. He becomes just the 18th active pitcher with 250 or more starts and just the sixth active pitcher with 250 or more starts and no relief appearances, joining Justin Verlander (556 GS), Gerrit Cole (317), Yu Darvish, Aaron Nola (287) and Zack Wheeler (283).

The Rangers’ ace said he wasn’t thinking too much about that, though. He was just hoping to put the club in a position to win. And he was able to do that in a pitchers duel with Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, who delivered a quality start of his own.

“It was a battle tonight,” deGrom said. “Logan [Gilbert] threw the ball great. I gave up the homer to Cal, and I was like, ‘All right, we better lock this in. This might be a close game.’ Obviously any day you're able to put this uniform on -- I said this before -- you gotta be thankful. I've missed plenty of time in my career. I was thankful to make 30 starts last year. The goal is to do it again this year and in the next couple of years.”