ARLINGTON, Texas — Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said he knew Monday would be a good day for Jacob deGrom because of how angry deGrom had been about his previous start.
deGrom allowed 1 hit and no walks over 7 innings in the Texas Rangers‘ 8-1 win over the Athletics at Globe Life Field. He struck out 8 and threw 85 pitches, 56 of them for strikes.
Schumaker said the defense behind deGrom turned in good plays, including double plays, and that catcher Danny Jansen was fantastic.
“There’s been some really good starts, and then there’s been some ones that he would tell you that have been not so great,” Schumaker said. “And the last one, I felt like today was going to be a really good day just because he was so mad at what happened in the last start. And when you have a competitor like Jacob who is pretty upset at the previous game or previous start, you knew that he was going to come in with a different type of mentality and be on the attack, and that’s exactly what he did. Some good defensive plays behind him as well, some good double plays. Overall, just a really solid game. Jansen back there was fantastic as well.”
What Happened At Rate Field On Aug. 25
The start Schumaker referred to came six days earlier in Chicago. deGrom did not record an out until the sixth batter of the game and needed 42 pitches to finish the first inning. Six runs scored in the frame.
He left after 3 2/3 innings with 8 runs allowed on 6 hits and 5 walks in an 11-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox. He struck out 2 and threw 87 pitches.
Those 8 earned runs matched his career high. They were also the most he has allowed in a start since joining the Rangers.
The 6 runs in the first tied the most he has given up in any inning. He gave up 6 in a fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 5, 2017.
By pitch count, that first inning was the second-longest inning of his career. He threw 45 in a first inning for the New York Mets in Philadelphia on May 13, 2018.
From 2020 through 2025, deGrom did not allow 6 or more runs in any start. This season he has done it four times.
deGrom entered Monday 2-3 with a 7.20 ERA in five August starts. Through Aug. 25, his second half amounted to seven starts, 29 2/3 innings, and a 6.67 ERA.
“I’m pretty frustrated after most rough starts, but that one was really bad,” deGrom said. “What, five walks? I ended up giving up eight runs. That was really frustrating. Especially, it’s the time that we can’t afford to have those kind of starts. For me, that really bothered me. We needed to go out there and win games there. I had an absolute terrible start. I needed to turn the page and prepare for this one and hopefully moving forward can continue to throw the ball how I expect to.”
Danny Jansen And The Defense Behind Jacob deGrom
Jansen caught all 9 innings and went 0-for-3 with a walk. He is batting .164 with a .261 on-base percentage.
“I just had to get ahead strike one and go from there,” deGrom explained. “That was the main goal. Danny did a nice job. We were on the same page all night and just had a good mix, whether it was slider strikes, changeup strikes. I don’t know if we threw a curveball for strike one. But anyways, we mixed it up throughout the night and were able to throw strikes. I think that was the biggest thing, just location, being ahead, and going right after guys. So that’s what I knew I needed to do and I was trying to do, and the last one just wasn’t able to. So I came in and was just really trying to see how many times I could try to hit the glove tonight.”
Lawrence Butler‘s second-inning single to right field was the only time an Athletics hitter reached base against deGrom. Two batters later, Max Muncy grounded into a double play that went from Cody Freeman to Justin Foscue to Jake Burger.
Texas pitchers struck out 11 Athletics hitters. Robby Ahlstrom struck out 2 in the eighth inning and Ben Peoples added 1 in the ninth.
Jacob deGrom’s Season And Injury Timeline
The win moved deGrom to 10-9. Monday was his 26th start.
It was also his third start since a stretch that began Aug. 6 in Anaheim, when he left a game against the Los Angeles Angels after 2 innings with right triceps fatigue. He had made his first 22 starts of the season without a trip to the injured list.
deGrom underwent an MRI the following day. The Rangers held him out of a turn before clearing him to face the Washington Nationals on Aug. 20.
He allowed 1 hit over 6 shutout innings that night and struck out 10. The 2,000th strikeout of his career came in that game.
Schumaker has also managed deGrom through hip soreness that dates to before the All-Star break. That issue factored into an 88-pitch limit in an Aug. 8 start against the Baltimore Orioles, which came days after deGrom declined to waive his full no-trade clause ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.
Nathan Eovaldi remains on the 15-day injured list with right posterior elbow inflammation.
Monday was the Rangers’ first game back from a 2-4 trip through Chicago and Milwaukee. Texas is 68-70 with 24 games left, and it has won two in a row. The Rangers trail the Cleveland Guardians by 1 1/2 games for the third American League wild-card spot.
The Athletics have lost four in a row and are 53-85. They went 8-20 in August, their worst month of August since 1978, when they went 7-21.
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore (7-10, 4.40 ERA) starts for Texas on Tuesday against Athletics left-hander Brady Basso (0-1, 4.50). First pitch is 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
