Image by Gillian Callison from Pixabay
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers are back within striking distance of first place in the American League West.
Texas took two of three games from the Washington Nationals at Globe Life Field, closing the series Thursday night with a 2-0 victory behind a milestone performance from Jacob deGrom.
The win improved the Rangers to 63-65 and pulled them within one game of the Houston Astros, who fell to 64-64 after an 18-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
The three-game series against Washington was dominated by pitching, with all three games ending in shutouts.
Texas opened the series Tuesday with a 5-0 victory as Cal Quantrill delivered seven scoreless innings.
Quantrill allowed four hits, while Justin Foscue homered and Cody Freeman drove in a run as the Rangers took control early.
Washington responded Wednesday with a 6-0 victory behind Cade Cavalli, who struck out 11 over six scoreless innings.
Rangers starter Kumar Rocker allowed two runs over five innings, but Texas’ offense managed only four hits, all singles, and struck out 13 times. Rocker threw 92 pitches and kept the game within reach before Washington added to its lead against the Texas bullpen.
That set up Thursday’s series finale, when deGrom delivered one of his strongest performances of the season.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one hit and one walk while striking out 10 over six scoreless innings.
DeGrom recorded his 2,000th career strikeout when he struck out former Rangers prospect Abimelec Ortiz in the first inning.
DeGrom became the 95th pitcher in major league history to reach 2,000 strikeouts. He reached the milestone in his 272nd career game, second only to Randy Johnson’s 262 games.
He also reached 2,000 strikeouts in 1,661 innings, second only to Chris Sale, who accomplished the feat in 1,626 innings. DeGrom finished the night with 2,008 career strikeouts.
Corey Seager gave Texas the lead with a solo home run in the third inning, his 13th of the season. Ezequiel Duran tripled in the eighth before Nicky Lopez drove him home with a sacrifice fly to give the Rangers a 2-0 advantage.
Jakob Junis, Chase Silseth and Jacob Latz combined to preserve the shutout after deGrom’s departure.
The series victory became even more significant after Houston failed to create separation in the division.
The Astros lost two of three at home against the Angels, including Thursday’s 18-3 defeat. The result left Houston at .500 and allowed Texas to move within one game of the division lead.
Angels arrive in Arlington with momentum
Texas will have little time to enjoy its series victory as they begin a three-game series Friday against the same Angels team that helped tighten the AL West race by taking two of three from Houston.
Los Angeles enters the weekend 51-77 and in fourth place in the division, but the Angels are coming off their most productive offensive game of the season.
Zach Neto went 5-for-6 with a home run and a career-high seven RBIs in Thursday’s 18-3 victory. The Angels produced a season-high 18 runs and earned their first road series victory since May.
The Angels have also given the Rangers trouble this season.
Los Angeles swept Texas at Angel Stadium in May, with the finale ending in a 2-1 walk-off victory after Reid Detmers struck out a career-high 14 over eight innings. More recently, the Angels took three of four from Texas in Anaheim from Aug. 10-13.
That makes Friday’s pitching matchup particularly notable.
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to start for Texas against Detmers. Gore enters the game 7-9 with a 4.45 ERA and 154 strikeouts. Detmers is 4-8 with a 3.78 ERA and 167 strikeouts.
Friday’s opener is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at Globe Life Field.
The series continues Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
For a Rangers team that has spent much of the season hovering around .500, the stakes are becoming increasingly clear.
Another series victory could put the Rangers in position to move to the top of the AL West.
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