BALTIMORE -- It hasn’t been how Jacob deGrom wanted to start the season.
First deGrom was scratched from his season debut, which was originally scheduled for last Saturday in Philadelphia, due to neck stiffness.
When he finally made it to the mound on Tuesday night in Baltimore, it could have gone a bit better. deGrom allowed three runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Orioles, with his night ending after a two-run double from Gunnar Henderson tied the score back up at 3. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
“He felt great,” said manager Skip Schumaker after his team’s 8-5 victory. “He hasn't pitched in a while, so for him to go out and throw 80 pitches the way he did was good. Some of the pitches -- just talking to him -- they were good pitches that they hit. Those are pretty good hitters over there, too; sometimes that happens. But it's just good to see him on the mound. It's good to see him come off feeling good. The main thing for us is that he gave us a chance to win. I'll take that 30-plus times this year. It was fun to watch.”
deGrom was on cruise control for the early part of his night, his only blemish a solo homer from his former Mets teammate Pete Alonso. The string of two-out hits in the fifth ultimately spoiled his final line.
The Rangers’ reshaped offense picked him up, with a run in the sixth, a three-run homer from Danny Jansen in the seventh and a Corey Seager solo shot in the ninth to power Texas to a series win in Baltimore.
The 37-year-old was mostly pleased with his outing, despite the final line, though he noted the location on a few of his pitches could have been a bit better.
“I'm happy we won, but I wish I would have gotten through that fifth inning, at least,” deGrom said. “But the guys are putting together good at-bats, scoring runs. It makes it a lot easier for us pitchers to go out there and try to get them back in there quick, to keep doing that. So it's been fun to watch. The goal is to keep it rolling.”
This was deGrom's first start against the Orioles in which he didn't get a win, as he was 5-0 in five starts against them with a 1.34 ERA in 33 2/3 innings before Tuesday. All five of those outings were quality starts.
deGrom is entering his fourth year with the Rangers, though he was down for much of 2023-24 due to his second Tommy John surgery. He was an All-Star in his return last season, posting a 2.97 ERA in 172 2/3 innings while making 30 starts for the first time since his second National League Cy Young Award-winning season with the Mets in 2019.
“It's a lot of fun,” Jansen said of catching deGrom. “He's obviously done it for a long time. He's very good. It was fun to get back there in a Major League game and compete with him. He's a crazy competitor. He does some things incredibly well, and it was fun to be back there with him. Obviously, it's not the outing you hope for, especially for him, right? But they made some good at-bats against him late. So you can tip your cap to that and [move] on to the next one for sure.”
This is the first time the Rangers have opened with a 4-1 record or better since 2012 (also 4-1). But a coveted deGrom start and a big series win aside, the Rangers are relishing a week on the road that has shown the potential this team has from top to bottom.
This Rangers team looks like they’re having fun. It sounds simple, but that can take a team a long way down the stretch.
“Yeah, we’re having a lot of fun, that’s the goal,” deGrom said. “Skip's done a great job of managing this thing so far, and the guys have been having a good time. You play this game, and it’s -- what? -- 162 games. You have to show up every day and get ready to play, but you also have to have fun playing. That's why you play this game. So we have to continue doing that and rooting for each other. And like I said, the offense has been fun to watch so far too. We gotta keep it going.”