The Rangers got back over .500 on Tuesday, and they had to work for it.
For most of the night, this had the look of one of those home losses that just hangs in the air. Jacob deGrom wasn’t quite himself, the Angels kept poking around, and the game sat there in a way that didn’t feel especially encouraging. Then the Rangers flipped it.
DeGrom’s outing ended after five innings and 80 pitches, and the reason was more than just a rough patch. He said afterward that a hip issue was bothering him, which likely played into the early exit and the fact that he didn’t have his usual sharpness. He still struck out seven and said he expects to make his next start on Sunday, the final game before the All Star Game.
The first inning did the damage against him. Both runs he allowed came right away, and that’s been the story of his season far too often.
Of the 39 runs deGrom has given up, 19 have come in the first inning. Half of the extra-base hits against him - 14 of 28 - have also come in that frame, and opponents are hitting .308/.365/.692 against him in the first.
After that opening stumble, he settled in. The Angels only got one runner to second base the rest of the way, and that came in the second when Zach Neto walked to lead off the inning and Denzer Guzman reached on an infield single that should have been an out for Ezequiel Duran at third, but Duran looked to second before throwing late to first. DeGrom handled the next two hitters without trouble.
He also added to his place in the record book. His seven strikeouts moved him past Kenny Rogers, Bob Welch and Aaron Nola for 101st on the all time strikeout list, giving him 1,973.
Nola, who has 1,970, will likely jump him when he makes his next start later this week. DeGrom could move up to 97th in his next outing by passing Nola, Al Leiter, Livan Hernandez, John Clarkson and Ervin Santana.
The bullpen finished the job from there, with Cole Winn, Chris Martin, Peyton Gray and Tyler Alexander each covering an inning. Alexander got the ninth only because the Rangers blew the game open in the eighth.
There was some second-guessing about Chris Martin being used in a tie game in the seventh, but the bullpen picture made that decision a lot less glamorous than it looked. With Peyton Gray and Jacob Latz presumably lined up for the eighth and ninth, the alternatives were stretching Winn for another inning or going to Gavin Collyer, Robby Ahlstrom, Ben Peoples, Alexander or Martin. That’s not exactly a buffet of clean choices, and Gray is the Rangers’ current eighth-inning guy anyway.
Martin’s inning did get messy. Oswald Peraza opened the seventh with a single, stole second, and scored on Wade Meckler’s single. Logan O’Hoppe then grounded into a double play and Zach Neto popped out, so the damage stopped there, but it was enough to put Martin in the spotlight.
The Angels’ starter, Jose Soriano, mostly kept the Rangers quiet outside one bad stretch. He had opened the year by allowing one run total in his first six starts, then slid back to a 5.34 ERA across his 12 starts before Tuesday.
Against Texas, he walked Evan Carter and Alejandro Osuna before giving up a two-run single to Nicky Lopez. Otherwise, he allowed just two baserunners.
When the Angels went to the bullpen to open the seventh, the Rangers finally had a crack.
Justin Foscue delivered the first big swing. Pinch hitting for Evan Carter against Tayler Saucedo, he worked the count full and then launched the eighth pitch of the at-bat into the left field seats to tie it.
From there, the eighth turned into a rout. Josh Smith and Jake Burger opened the inning with singles, Brandon Nimmo moved them along with a groundout, and Ezequiel Duran put Texas in front with a single.
Justin Foscue followed with another run-scoring hit, and then Alejandro Osuna blew it open by pulling a three-run homer down the right field line and into the seats. It was one out, not two, but the Rangers weren’t complaining.
With the Mariners losing, Texas is now a half-game back in the American League West. The Rangers hold the WC3 spot, a game and a half ahead of the Astros and Twins and 3.5 games up on the Jays. They’re also a half-game behind the Guardians for WC2.
The radar gun had some pop, too. DeGrom’s fastball reached 99.3 mph and averaged 97.7.
Cole Winn topped out at 95.9. Chris Martin hit 95.0.
Peyton Gray reached 94.2. Tyler Alexander got to 92.3.
At the plate, Justin Foscue’s homer came off the bat at 111.0 mph. Elias Diaz had singles at 108.0 mph and 106.3 mph.
Ezequiel Duran logged a 104.6 mph single and a 103.4 mph groundout. Alejandro Osuna’s homer came off at 102.0 mph, and Joc Pederson had a 100.5 mph fly out.
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