Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom struck out five batters in three innings during his first home start for the Texas Rangers in almost 17 months after recovering from elbow surgery.
The only run he allowed was when Seattle’s ninth batter, Josh Rojas, hit a homer to start the third inning. Texas was behind when deGrom left, briefly took the lead, but ended up losing 8-2 to the Mariners, who are competing for an AL wild card spot.
A week after pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his season debut against the Mariners, deGrom threw 37 of his 58 pitches for strikes and walked one batter.
“Definitely felt better than my first one. I think maybe a little bit less nerves, worked on some things in between,” deGrom said. He is expected to make one more start this season.
“It’s little things that I’ve got to continue to work on, but my arm felt good and that was the most important thing.”
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy had mentioned that the 36-year-old right-hander would throw around 60 pitches.
Rookie Jake Leiter took over for deGrom to begin the fourth inning and allowed seven runs (six earned) in five innings.
This was deGrom’s first home start since he left a game against the New York Yankees on April 28, 2023, which was his sixth and final start in the first season of his $185 million, five-year contract.
This will be his only appearance this season at Globe Life Field. The Rangers will finish the season on the road next week at Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels. DeGrom mentioned that his goal for his last start is to pitch five innings and throw around 75 pitches.
“Tonight I wanted to at least get four or five innings, but three 20-pitch innings isn’t ideal,” he said. “So I’ll try to be a little bit more efficient and aim to go out there for a fifth inning.”
