SEATTLE — Jacob deGrom retired the first 15 batters he faced Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park and struck out 12 in 6 scoreless innings. In the seventh inning, after deGrom had left with a 3-0 lead, Julio Rodríguez hit a three-run homer off Jakob Junis, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 4-3.
Junis faced 4 batters and did not record an out. He hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch leading off the inning, then gave up an RBI single to Dominic Canzone and a single to Cal Raleigh. Rodríguez hit Junis’ first pitch, a sinker, 410 feet over the Texas bullpen for his 21st homer of the season. In comments reported by MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, Junis said it was a vintage deGrom start.
“Definitely feels like you let the team down on multiple levels,” Junis said. “Not only did we lose, but Jacob went out there and had a terrific game. Just a vintage deGrom start; it couldn’t have been any better. And then for it to fall apart in one inning like that, and for it to be your fault, it sucks. No way to sugarcoat it at all. It sucks in every single way.”
Junis entered the day with a 2.74 ERA and 6 saves. The loss dropped him to 1-3. Neither Junis nor Jacob Latz, who has 28 saves and a 1.85 ERA, had pitched Tuesday or Wednesday. After the homer, Robby Ahlstrom finished the seventh with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Robert Garcia struck out 2 in a scoreless eighth.
Jacob deGrom Strikes Out 12 Before Leaving With A 3-0 Lead
For the fifth time in his career, deGrom struck out 8 of the first 9 batters he faced. Through five perfect innings, he had 10 strikeouts. Cole Young singled leading off the sixth on a line drive off deGrom’s raised glove. It was the only hit deGrom allowed. He did not walk a batter and faced one over the minimum.
The 12 strikeouts were a season high. They were the most deGrom has recorded in a game with Texas. He last reached that total Sept. 19, 2022, pitching for the New York Mets against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said deGrom dealt with groin tightness through much of the start, Landry reported. The tightness began in the fourth inning, when deGrom ran to cover first base on a ground ball, Schumaker said. It was the reason Schumaker and a trainer went to the mound in the sixth. It was also the reason deGrom did not return for the seventh at 92 pitches, 64 of them strikes. deGrom is not overly concerned that the groin will become a lingering issue.
“I felt good early on,” deGrom said. “I was able to locate the ball well. When my groin tightened up in the fourth, I told them I was good to keep going. After the sixth, we were like, ‘Do we push here?’ Ultimately the decision was made to come out. I wanted to give the team a chance to win, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that today.”
The no-decision left deGrom at 10-9 through 28 starts. He came into Thursday with a 3.96 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 143 1/3 innings. On Sept. 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays, he worked 6 innings and allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, walked 1, and struck out 7 on 90 pitches. Last season, deGrom went 12-8 with a 2.97 ERA and was voted the American League Comeback Player of the Year. He has won two Cy Young Awards.
Logan Gilbert Strikes Out 11 As Seattle Mariners Take the Series
Texas scored all 3 of its runs against Logan Gilbert. In the third inning, Nicky Lopez singled with one out, and Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer to right with two outs. In the fifth, Evan Carter was hit by a pitch leading off, stole second, and went to third on an errant throw from Raleigh. Lopez brought him in with a bunt single down the first-base line. Lopez finished 2-for-2.
Gilbert (12-9) worked 7 innings and allowed 3 hits and 3 runs, walked 2, and struck out 11. It was his second straight start with double-digit strikeouts. No Mariners pitcher had done that since James Paxton in 2018. The 23 strikeouts by the two starters were the most by starting pitchers in a major league game this season. Like deGrom, Gilbert attended Stetson University.
In the top of the seventh, a pitch from Gilbert bounced away from Raleigh. Gilbert made a sliding tag on Wyatt Langford at the plate off Raleigh’s throw.
Gabe Speier allowed 1 hit and struck out 2 in a scoreless eighth. With two outs in the ninth, Andrés Muñoz walked 2 batters before Jake Burger grounded into a forceout. Young fielded the grounder behind second base and beat Carter to the bag, and the call stood after a video review. Muñoz earned his 27th save in 36 chances.
Texas fell to 72-75, three games behind the Houston Astros (75-72) in the American League West. The Rangers are two games back for the last American League wild card. The Toronto Blue Jays (73-74) and Cleveland Guardians (74-73) were both idle Thursday.
Seattle took two of three in the series after Texas won Tuesday’s opener 10-5. The Mariners won 3-2 on Wednesday and are 69-78, six games behind Houston. The Rangers finished 8-5 against Seattle this season.
Texas has not won a road series since before the All-Star break, when it swept four games in Toronto and took two of three in Cleveland from June 25 to July 1. The Rangers are 32-43 on the road, a record Schumaker singled out before the series. Schumaker expects the Rangers to feel this one for the rest of the night.
“Win tomorrow,” Schumaker said. “That’s how you get [momentum] back. That’s that. There’s only one way to go. We’re going to feel this one. There’s no doubt. Going to feel it for probably the rest of the night, and then you’re going to have to flush it right away when we get to land in Arizona. That’s just part of being a big leaguer.”
“We go to Arizona,” Schumaker continued. “We try to win the first game. … The only thing you can do is be upset for another eight hours and then figure out Arizona.”
The Rangers open a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at Chase Field, with first pitch at 8:40 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network. Arizona starts right-hander Merrill Kelly (9-13, 5.06 ERA). Texas acquired Kelly from the Diamondbacks at the 2025 trade deadline for three pitching prospects. He went 3-3 in 10 starts for the Rangers.
