By Alex Al-Kazzaz
After what was a bit of a devastating debut for the Texas Rangers, Jacob deGrom had quite a turnaround in his second start on the mound as the Rangers wrapped up their series with the Baltimore Orioles. After the Rangers came up short in the last two games after a surprising 3-0 start, deGrom stepped up and delivered. Most important, deGrom has his first win of the season.
In 6.0 innings, deGrom surrendered two runs on two hits and struck out a total of eleven batters. The bullpen managed to pitch a shut-out while allowing zero hits. Jose Leclerc who closed it out managed to earn his first save of the season.
On Opening Day, deGrom lasted only 3.2 innings, surrendering five runs on six hits. On a positive note, he struck out seven batters. The Rangers rallied from a 5-run deficit to an 11-7 win. Texas signed deGrom to a five-year, $185 million deal last December. The two-time NL Cy Young award winner and two-time NL strikeout leader was with the New York Mets from 2014 to 2022. He opted out of his contract after the Mets' season ended.
In the first game of this series, the Rangers finished 1-for-29 on hitting, which led to a 2-0 loss. Game two saw the Rangers lose 7-2 with Andrew Heaney having a bad day on the mound, surrendering seven runs on seven hits and only two strikeouts. The Rangers bullpen continues to be effective, but the lack of production from the bats makes it difficult to maintain. Scoring runs is the only effective way to relieve pressure from the pitching, so the Rangers have to keep the bats hot.
Rookie third baseman Josh Jung is a bit of a roll. After going 1-for-8 in the first two games this season, he's turned it around. He's now on a five-game hitting streak and is coming off back-to-back two-hit games. In Game 3 against Baltimore, he had a two-run homer finishing the game with 3 runs-batted-in and one run.
Texas sits with a 4-2 record as they're about to hit the road for the first time. On Friday, they'll start a three-game series against Chicago Cubs before coming back to Arlington for a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals.
Cover photo courtesy of Dallas Morning News
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