'Terrible job by me': deGrom shoulders blame as Rangers drop below .500
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HOUSTON -- The Rangers had it lined up exactly how they wanted. Their two co-aces Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom would start the first two of a three-game set against the Astros at Daikin Park in a pivotal stretch leading into Monday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline.
It should have been perfect, or at least enough to split the first two games. Instead, Eovaldi -- who was given an extra day of rest -- and deGrom combined to allow 11 runs in 8 1/3 innings in a pair of losses. They combined to allow 17 hits and six walks.
Following Texas’ blowout loss on Friday, deGrom allowed all five Houston runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Rangers fell, 5-4, to the Astros to drop the three-game set. Texas has now lost four out of five series since the All-Star break.
“I was aggravated,” deGrom said of his performance. “That's frustrating. I was very frustrated tonight. I've had too many starts like this where it's walks and not being able to make pitches when I need to. That boils down to execution. Like I said, I’m just not executing, and it's frustrating. So yeah, it was frustrating.”
The frustration was palpable, not just in deGrom, but throughout the club.
The Rangers’ offense had a bit more life on Saturday than Friday, and they tied the score on two occasions, but Texas couldn’t take the lead at any point of the contest. It went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding seven.
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But for deGrom, it started with him.
“We needed to win today's game, that was the bottom line,” deGrom said. “I needed to come in and put us in a position to do that. I [allowed] the one run in the second, and Wyatt [Langford] ends up hitting a homer to score, and I just was not able to shut them down. Zero shutdown innings after we would score. Terrible job by me. Honestly, I'm kind of tired of saying that, so I better figure something out.”
deGrom, who was battling a hip/glute issue before and into the All-Star break, labored through his 3 1/3 innings in the loss, throwing 69 pitches through three and finishing with 91 (52 strikes).
In the third inning, manager Skip Schumaker, pitching coach Jordan Tiegs and head trainer Matt Lucero made a mound visit to see deGrom after he recorded the second out of the frame. It was quick, but he proceeded to walk Jose Altuve to load the bases. Then Taylor Trammell chopped one through the left side of the infield to score two.
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deGrom came back out to start the fourth inning, but he recorded just one out. He said the hip/glute issue did not affect him terribly, despite clearly still being able to feel it. He said he expects to make his next start.
“I don't think that was a factor,” deGrom said. “I just didn't throw the ball anywhere close to where I wanted to. I mean, did I walk five guys? I didn't make pitches when I needed to, so it was just a bad, bad job by me. I've had to say that too many times this year. That’s on me; we lost this game because I wasn't able to go out there and execute and make pitches when I needed to.”
The loss, which extended the Rangers’ losing streak to a season-high-tying four games, pushed Texas (55-56) below .500 for the first time since June 27 (41-42). The Rangers are now 1 1/2 games back of the Astros (57-55) in the American League West and a half-game back of the Twins (56-56) for the third Wild Card spot as the Trade Deadline draws closer.
“There's still a lot of games left,” Schumaker said. “I know it's post-All-Star break, and I know it's the Trade Deadline. I totally understand. It's August. There's still a lot of games though. …
“I think everyone believes they can do it. I know it's Aug. 1. If we had won this series and lost the next series, that's still bad, too, right? It’s about each game. That's why they're all about winning each day, and it starts with tomorrow. We still believe that we have enough in there to win.”