ANAHEIM, Calif. — Walbert Ureña grew up watching Jacob deGrom. On Thursday, the 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels rookie started opposite him at Angel Stadium.
Ureña threw 6 scoreless innings in a 7-0 win over the Texas Rangers, allowing 2 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts.
deGrom gave up 2 runs before right triceps fatigue ended his night after two innings.
“He was one of my favorite pitchers when I was growing up,” Ureña said. “So it was pretty good facing him, but we won.”
Walbert Ureña Continues Strong Rookie Season For Los Angeles Angels
The win put Ureña at 8-8 with a 2.67 ERA. He has made 22 appearances, including 20 starts, and worked 107 2/3 innings.
Ureña has 102 strikeouts and 57 walks. His ERA is fourth among American League pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings and second among qualified rookies, behind Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick at 2.59.
His eighth win also gave the Angels a rookie mark they had not seen in several years. Jaime Barria was the last Los Angeles rookie starter to reach 8 wins, finishing with 10 in 2018.
Ureña had to throw a few more pitches than expected in the first. Jose Siri dropped a fly ball with two outs, and Ureña needed 9 more pitches before getting out of the inning.
The Rangers came away empty.
Ureña allowed only 2 hits before turning the game over to José Fermin, Tayler Saucedo and Sammy Peralta. Each threw a scoreless inning to finish the shutout.
“It was great,” Ureña said. “I just stayed with my same routine. Just trying to go out and having fun and making pitches.”
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki liked what he saw after Ureña had a tougher outing his previous time out.
“Wow,” Suzuki said. “He’s getting better and better, right? I know the last start he had a little tough one. But for him to regroup, get his work in this week and be ready for tonight, and do what he did tonight, was pretty cool.”
Los Angeles Angels Score Early Against Jacob deGrom
Los Angeles got 5 hits off deGrom in the second inning.
Denzer Guzmán opened it with a single. Josh Lowe doubled behind him, and Adam Frazier singled in Guzmán with one out.
Wyatt Langford threw Lowe out at the plate from left field on the same play. Wade Meckler later singled, and Mike Trout brought Frazier home for a 2-0 lead.
deGrom needed 32 pitches to finish the inning.
“Getting to deGrom early today was great,” Lowe said. “We didn’t try to do too much. We just passed the baton to the next guy and got the job done.”
The Angels added 4 runs against Jordan Montgomery in the fifth. Another run came in the seventh, and all nine Los Angeles starters finished with at least one hit.
Texas ended the night with three straight losses to close the series. The Rangers left Anaheim at 60-62 and a half-game behind Detroit for the final American League Wild Card spot.
deGrom put the loss on himself afterward.
“We needed to win,” deGrom said. “I take blame for tonight.”
The Rangers also have Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list with right posterior elbow inflammation. Manager Skip Schumaker said after Thursday’s game that the starting pitching “has taken a hit.”
Ureña left with his eighth win and six more scoreless innings on his rookie résumé.
