ST. LOUIS -- Jacob deGrom has been so dominant over the course of his career that it’s difficult to imagine any particular ballpark might have given him trouble. Heading into Monday’s start, though, he held a 8.44 ERA in three starts at Busch Stadium, his highest mark at any park where he’d made more than one appearance.
Five scoreless innings not only bumped the ballpark down that particular list, but also moved deGrom into a new club of career success. The Rangers triumphed, 2-1, in the series opener, securing deGrom’s 100th career victory along the way.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out eight and allowed just one walk in the victory. On a night where offense was at a premium for both sides, deGrom successfully danced through the raindrops in the game’s early going. He stranded runners in scoring position in the first, second and fourth innings, and despite the traffic, he allowed only one extra-base hit.
Ezequiel Duran paced the Rangers’ offense with three hits, including an RBI double in the fourth, which broke a scoreless tie. Joc Pederson drove in the other Rangers run with a single that scored Danny Jansen in the fifth, set up by Jansen’s second stolen base -- and just fourth stolen-base attempt -- in nine Major League seasons.
deGrom’s dominance continued a superior scoreless stretch by Rangers starters. They have now tossed 27 consecutive scoreless innings, the longest such span since July 9-16, 2011, when the streak ended after an eye-popping 30 1/3 scoreless frames.