deGrom shines in rubber match as Rangers win series over Cardinals

ARLINGTON -- Jacob deGrom changed gloves on Sunday morning ahead of his start against the Cardinals. He typically uses a black one, but he switched to a tan Rawlings glove as he prepared to close out the homestand.

What caused a sudden shift for such a routine-oriented guy?

“Well, when you have however many starts in the big leagues and you don’t strike [anyone out],” deGrom said with a smile.

During his last start against the Blue Jays on Monday, deGrom recorded zero strikeouts for the first time in his 229 big league starts. He didn’t have that issue on Sunday.

On a day when they lost one of the best pitchers in baseball to the injured list, the Rangers had deGrom take the mound to carry them to victory.

Nathan Eovaldi landed on the injured list on Sunday with right posterior elbow inflammation. Less than an hour later, deGrom took the mound for the series finale against the Cardinals, and he ended up carrying the Rangers to an 8-1 victory to secure the series. It was Texas' first series win since May 12-14, a sweep of the Rockies during the Rangers' last homestand.

deGrom struck out four over six innings of one-run ball, cruising through much of the day after allowing a run in the first inning.

It was deGrom’s fifth quality start, as he’s allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last nine outings. He lowered his ERA to 2.34.

“In that first inning, I was fighting myself a little bit,” deGrom said. “Probably the last inning was when I felt the best. I finally stopped thinking. Early on, I felt like I was fighting myself a little bit, so I was trying to make the adjustment. I was overthinking, almost trying to just guide the ball versus throwing it. When I try to guide it, I almost get too tense, and then it doesn't come out as good. And then in the last innings, it was probably some of the best mechanics that I've had.”

Those early struggles with deGrom fighting himself were evident in the results.

deGrom issued a leadoff walk to Lars Nootbaar to open the game and then threw two more balls to Masyn Winn. He got a brief visit from a trainer, pitching coach Mike Maddux and manager Bruce Bochy, but stayed in the game.

deGrom allowed the run after a Willson Contreras RBI single later in the frame, but he locked in from the second inning on.

“They said, ‘You OK?’ and I was like ‘Yeah, just keep yanking everything. If I can figure that out, then maybe we'll be good,’” deGrom recalled of the mound visit. “I was slow to the plate there. I was trying to be too methodical, and then it was like, we just got to try to hit the gloves, stop thinking about mechanics and stuff.”

deGrom left the game after 80 pitches as the Rangers continue to keep an eye on his workload. They are being rightfully cautious. deGrom has now thrown 69 1/3 innings this season, surpassing his total from any season since 2021, when he threw 92.

deGrom only made nine starts through his first two seasons in Texas and only 35 starts over the previous four years combined. He hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings since 2019 (204 in 32 starts), when he won his second consecutive Cy Young Award while with the Mets. That was the last time he was healthy across an entire season.

“Just another outstanding job,” Bochy reiterated. “He got out of sync occasionally, as you saw, but he got back on track and made some big pitches when he had to. Yeah, terrific job by Jacob. That was enough, he was about where we wanted to get him [innings-wise] today.”

The series win against the Cardinals felt like a true illustration of what this Rangers team can be. After season-long offensive struggles, Texas outscored St. Louis by 15 (19-4) in the three games, a tally that included the Rangers getting shut out on Saturday.

The pitching has been good all season long. That much is obvious. But if the offense can provide even just three or four runs per game, the Rangers will be in a good place. It’s even better with deGrom on the mound.

“If you ask [deGrom], he probably isn't even happy with the way he pitched today and he pitched a gem,” said utility man Josh Smith, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a two-run homer. “He's a competitor out there. We know if we can get him two or three runs, we feel good about that. We got him a couple more today. He gives us a chance to win every game.”