ARLINGTON, Texas — In an impressive performance, Jacob deGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, threw seven strikeouts over six scoreless innings, earning his first win in over two years. This victory contributed significantly to the Texas Rangers’ dominant 15-2 triumph against the Athletics on Tuesday night.
DeGrom, who is 36 years old, had not secured a victory since beating the Athletics back on April 23, 2023. Following that game, he made only one more appearance for the Rangers before undergoing Tommy John surgery, delaying his return to winning form.
The Rangers, requiring the full team to participate in batting practice before the match, experienced their most productive offensive game this season, achieving season highs with 18 hits and 15 runs. Before this game, the team had been languishing at the bottom of the league with only 91 runs and had managed a mere 12 runs over their last six games.
In the first inning, despite Jacob Lopez (0-1) loading the bases with walks, Texas did not capitalize. However, they found their rhythm in the following three innings, scoring runs in each. The third inning saw Jake Burger and Leody Taveras deliver consecutive RBI singles with two outs, pushing the score to 3-0 and resulting in the Athletics replacing their starting pitcher.
The Rangers’ offensive explosion reached its peak with Adolis García and Wyatt Langford hitting bases-clearing doubles in a massive eight-run sixth inning, advancing the score to 12-0. DeGrom, having thrown 65 pitches with 47 strikes, did not return after the sixth inning.
DeGrom had only received a total of nine runs in support across his first five starts this season, which included three shorter games as he made his comeback from surgery at the close of the preceding season. Dane Dunning earned a three-inning save, although he conceded a two-run homer to Shea Langeliers in the seventh.
Key moments included three Rangers players delivering three-run doubles. Kyle Higashioka contributed with another in the eighth inning.
Notably, the Rangers, who had garnered only eight walks across their previous six matches, drew nine walks in this game alone from five Athletics pitchers and succeeded with 10 of 22 chances with runners in scoring positions.
Next on the schedule, Texas will send right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 2.21 ERA) to pitch on Wednesday, while the Athletics will counter with Luis Severino (1-3, 3.49 ERA).