MINNEAPOLIS — Jacob deGrom allowed 8 earned runs over 4 innings on Friday night, matching a career high in his final start of the regular season. The Texas Rangers lost to the Minnesota Twins 10-2 at Target Field and fell to 79-81 with two games left to play.
Texas stayed tied with the Houston Astros atop the AL West after Houston lost 6-5 to the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif. The Astros won the season series and own the tiebreaker, so the Rangers have to finish one game ahead of them to win the division. A Houston win and a Texas loss on Saturday would clinch the AL West for the Astros. Whichever team takes the division will be the first in a full MLB season to reach the postseason without a winning record, according to The Associated Press.
In the first inning, Texas scored twice after Twins starter Joe Ryan hit 2 batters. Corey Seager drove in the first run with a single. Josh Jung, who had been hit on the right hand by a 94.6 mph four-seam fastball from Ryan, scored the second on a grounder by Wyatt Langford.
Minnesota Twins Score Six Runs Off Jacob deGrom In The Second Inning
After a 1-2-3 first, deGrom faced 10 batters in the second. Royce Lewis tied the game with a two-run single, and Ryan Kreidler put Minnesota ahead with a safety squeeze bunt that went for a single when nobody covered first base. Luke Keaschall followed with a two-run triple and scored on a deGrom wild pitch. The 6 runs matched the most deGrom has allowed in a single inning in his career.
In his postgame news conference, carried on Rangers Sports Network, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the Twins did damage on pitches over the middle of the plate, both sliders and fastballs. He had expected one of deGrom’s usual nights once Texas scored first.
“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.”
Minnesota added 2 more runs off deGrom in the fourth. He finished with 4 innings pitched, 8 hits, 8 earned runs, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts, falling to 11-11. It was the second time this season and the fourth time in his career that deGrom allowed 8 earned runs in a game, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reported. Over his final two starts, he gave up 11 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings with 7 walks and 7 strikeouts.
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.”
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.”
A day earlier, Schumaker said the Rangers needed their “dudes to be dudes” to reach October. He said Friday that deGrom had wanted to go seven scoreless innings.
“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.”
Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 and hit a two-run homer off Rangers reliever Gavin Collyer in the sixth, his team-leading 27th of the season. Keaschall had 4 hits, including a double and a triple, and drove in 3 runs. Ryan (7-10) allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 8 over 6 innings.
Josh Jung Joins Joc Pederson With A Hand Fracture
Jung stayed in the game after the first-inning pitch to run the bases, then came out for a pinch hitter, Alejandro Osuna, in the third inning. Schumaker said after the game that X-rays showed a fracture in the fifth metacarpal of Jung’s right hand. The Rangers planned more testing on Saturday before deciding on his status.
Jung knew the bone was broken as soon as the pitch hit him.
“Devastated … period,” Jung said.
The break sits about three inches from the right wrist fracture that cost Jung much of the 2024 season and required multiple surgeries. He started at designated hitter on Friday and was hitting .299/.365/.462 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI in 104 games this season. Since returning from more than a month on the injured list with a strained left calf, he had slashed .341/.383/.636 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI entering Friday.
Texas has already lost designated hitter Joc Pederson, who was hit by a pitch at Chase Field on Sept. 12 and later found to have a small fracture in his left hand. The Rangers placed Pederson on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, retroactive to Sept. 19, and are aiming to have him back for the start of the AL Wild Card Series, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reported. Pederson is hitting .235/.329/.487 with 26 home runs and 53 RBI.
Schumaker said losing both players over the last two weeks has been frustrating.
“The initial X-ray was a fracture. So we’re going to get obviously more testing done and see what happens with other testing that’s involved,” Schumaker said. “But if he’s out, that’s pretty significant.”
“Him and Joc, both with hand fractures or wrist fractures, and not ideal at this time of the year,” Schumaker continued. “But still gotta go. We have two games left, and we gotta figure this thing out.”
Texas can be eliminated as soon as Saturday, and the Rangers were going to be watching the scoreboard on Friday night once their own game ended.
“We have to. I mean, that’s the only way to do it,” Schumaker said. “With two games left, we will be obviously scoreboard watching tonight, part of the game and part of where we’re at in the season. But the important thing is to come back tomorrow and do whatever we can to fight and to try to win that game tomorrow. That’s the most important game.”
“Tough one today, no doubt about it,” Schumaker added. “But we have to figure out a way to keep going, stay positive, and win tomorrow, and see what happens tonight.”
Nathan Eovaldi (11-10, 4.27 ERA) starts for Texas on Saturday against Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (7-6, 4.21 ERA). It will be Eovaldi’s first start since Aug. 7. Since returning from an elbow injury on Sept. 12, he has made four relief appearances and has not thrown more than 46 pitches in any of them. First pitch at Target Field is set for 3:10 p.m. CT. The regular season ends Sunday with the series finale in Minneapolis.
