ARLINGTON -- Globe Life Field’s run production has been a topic of conversation for well over a year now. The Rangers and opponents alike have struggled to score runs in Arlington.
But the bottom line is that you have to find ways to win at home. One easy way to do that is to have Jacob deGrom on the mound.
The Rangers’ ace took the mound on Sunday afternoon and was immediately dialed in, producing three perfect innings before allowing his first hit, a leadoff double from Nico Hoerner in the fourth. By the end of his day, deGrom completed his longest start of the season, seven scoreless innings to carry Texas to a 3-0 win over the Cubs and secure a series victory against one of the National League’s hottest teams.
deGrom has pitched in six rubber games since joining the Rangers in 2023, going 5-0 with a 1.22 ERA in such contests.
“Vintage Jacob deGrom,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “That was what I remember when I faced him 10 years ago. He was on the attack, low pitch count but high strikeouts. That's so hard to do. He was just on cruise control. It was as good as I've seen him this year. Maybe his best start so far.”
deGrom recorded his 1,900th career strikeout with a swinging K of Seiya Suzuki in the first inning, his second of the evening. He became the second-fastest pitcher to 1,900 strikeouts in both games (256 to Randy Johnson’s 252) and innings (1577 1/3 to Chris Sale’s 1560 1/3).
deGrom is the ninth active pitcher with 1,900 career strikeouts.
“Every day I'm able to put this uniform on, I'm thankful for it,” deGrom said of the milestone. “As a kid, it was only a dream to be able to play Major League Baseball, and to think that I might be able to accomplish really anything in this game was still just a dream. I've been very fortunate to be able to do this. So just try to keep going.”
The win accounted for deGrom’s 63rd career start of 10-or-more strikeouts and his seventh with 10 strikeouts and no walks. His 10 K's match most by any pitcher against the Cubs this season, joining Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan. His 22 whiffs are also a season high for a pitcher against Chicago, which entered the day with the lowest strikeout percentage (19.9) in the National League.
“He was good, there's no question,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “The slider -- he just doesn't make mistakes with the slider to the right-handers. He got the fastball for the vast majority of the game, up to our lefties. It's just such a tough pitch to hit when it's up. He just doesn't make mistakes. It's good stuff. It's two really good pitches without mistakes.”
deGrom was notably frustrated after his last start at Yankee Stadium, when he allowed a season-high six runs and two homers in a loss. He said he made a slight arm slot adjustment late in that game and worked on it between starts. That adjustment -- getting the arm a bit higher -- allowed him to utilize the slider more effectively and helped with the fastball-slider combination when attacking hitters.
"That was a very frustrating start,” deGrom said of the outing vs. the Yankees. “But you have to flush that and then prepare to make this next start. Control what I can control, one pitch at a time. I knew what I needed to do. I wanted to try to make that little mechanical adjustment and focused on it this week. When I got out there, I'm like, ‘Hey, we worked on it this week. Now let's see how many times I can hit the glove today.’”
He did that Sunday, and more.
“It was vintage Jacob deGrom,” third baseman Josh Jung reiterated. “It was incredible to stand behind him and watch him work.”