CLEVELAND -- The Rangers’ 4-2 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field on Tuesday had a little bit of everything.
But, on a day where it felt like the game was being played on the surface of the sun, Jacob deGrom put together another vintage performance for Texas’ depleted rotation.
A day after the Rangers were forced to sign Chris Paddack off the street to eat innings, they turned to the ace who they signed to a five-year, $185 million deal ahead of the 2023 season.
deGrom looked every bit like that ace on Tuesday, as he allowed two runs over seven innings of work while surrendering just four hits with nine strikeouts. He has now gone 6+ innings and allowed two runs or less in five of his past seven starts.
The Guardians’ lone runs against him came in the first inning when Chase DeLauter roped a double to left-center field before Kyle Manzardo jumped all over a first-pitch fastball and crushed it a Statcast-projected 396 feet for a home run.
deGrom allowed a single to Daniel Schneemann in the second inning along with a fielder’s choice to Patrick Bailey, but he was able to lock in after that and retire 15 batters in a row until Schneemann hit a single in the seventh.
The Rangers tied the game after Manzardo’s homer thanks to a two-run home run from Joc Pederson in the third, and they took the lead in the seventh inning when Guardians rookie outfielder Cooper Ingle threw the ball in the stands with two outs after catching a fly ball and appearing to think it was the third out. That play allowed for Ezequiel Duran to score from second.
They added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a Josh Jung home run off Shawn Armstrong.