MINNEAPOLIS — Jacob deGrom allowed 8 earned runs on Friday night, matching the most he has given up in a game in his career. The start at Target Field was his last of the regular season, and the Texas Rangers lost to the Minnesota Twins 10-2.
It was the fourth time in his career and the second time this season that deGrom allowed 8 earned runs in a game, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reported. He finished with 4 innings pitched, 8 hits, 8 earned runs, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. His record fell to 11-11.
That second inning got away from deGrom after Texas had scored first, and he could not get it back under control.
“I’m embarrassed about that,” deGrom said. “That was not good.”
Minnesota Twins Score Six In The Second Inning Against Jacob deGrom
Texas led 2-0 after the first on an RBI single by Corey Seager and a run-scoring grounder by Wyatt Langford. deGrom set down the Twins in order in the bottom of the inning.
Minnesota sent 10 batters to the plate in the second. Royce Lewis tied the game with a two-run single. Ryan Kreidler put the Twins ahead with a safety squeeze bunt that went for a single when nobody covered first base. Luke Keaschall tripled in two more runs, then scored on a deGrom wild pitch.
The 6 runs tied the most deGrom has allowed in an inning in his career. The Twins added 2 more off him in the fourth, the last inning he pitched.
Over his final two starts, deGrom gave up 11 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. He walked 7 batters and struck out 7 in that stretch. He entered Friday with a 3.86 ERA.
At the trade deadline, deGrom declined to waive his no-trade clause. He said then that he believed this Rangers team could win and that he wanted to be in Texas to help it happen.
“It’s embarrassing,” deGrom explained. “To go out there and put us in that situation after we scored early, I don’t really know what to say. It just got out of hand, and I couldn’t get it back under control.”
“It was embarrassing. It was terrible. I didn’t make any pitches when I needed to,” deGrom added. “We’ll hope for a positive outcome in Sacramento, and hopefully win the next two.”
Skip Schumaker Says He Would Still Bet On Jacob deGrom
On Thursday, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Texas needed its “dudes to be dudes” to reach October. In his postgame news conference Friday, carried on Rangers Sports Network, Schumaker said the Twins did damage on pitches over the heart of the plate, both sliders and fastballs.
“I just felt like there’s a lot of pitches kind of over the middle that they took advantage on,” Schumaker said. “A lot of over the heart of the plate, whether it was the slider or the fastball, and they did a good job of being on the attack.”
“Quite honestly, I thought when we got the first two runs to start the game, I thought that was going to be kind of one of these games where we were going to continue that on, and Jacob was going to have one of his Jacob deGrom days,” Schumaker continued. “And kind of flipped pretty quick, and unfortunately they kept putting up crooked numbers.”
deGrom wanted to go seven scoreless innings on Friday, Schumaker said. He would have handed him the ball again Saturday if deGrom were available.
“Listen, I would always bet on Jacob,” Schumaker explained. “I’d want him in Game 1 of a series. I would have taken my chances again if he was available tomorrow, I believe in Jacob deGrom. It was a rough start, unfortunately tonight. I know he wanted to go seven tonight, shut out.”
“Especially after scoring first with your ace on the mound, you felt pretty good about it,” Schumaker noted. “It was just one of those innings, unfortunately.”
The loss left Texas tied with the Houston Astros atop the AL West at 79-81 after Houston lost 6-5 to the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif. Houston holds the tiebreaker. Nathan Eovaldi (11-10, 4.27 ERA) starts for the Rangers on Saturday against Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (7-6, 4.21 ERA), with first pitch set for 3:10 p.m. CT.
