Jacob deGrom delivered a dominant performance, striking out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings, while Evan Carter smashed a two-run homer to propel the Texas Rangers to a 3-0 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
deGrom (3-2) allowed just three hits—two of them to Nico Hoerner—and issued no walks, earning his 99th career win. This marked his second game this season with double-digit strikeouts, following a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 23, where he also fanned 10 batters.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner bounced back effectively after a tough outing against the New York Yankees last Tuesday, when he surrendered six runs on seven hits, including two home runs.
Texas third baseman Josh Jung recorded three of the team’s seven hits and crossed the plate twice, one day after notching three hits in a 6-0 shutout of the Cubs. Jacob Latz replaced deGrom and retired all six batters he faced over the eighth and ninth innings to notch his fourth save of the season.
Chicago’s Ian Happ went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, ending his career-best 30-game on-base streak. Jameson Taillon (2-2) allowed one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings for the Cubs, who were blanked in back-to-back games after their second 10-game winning streak of the season.
The Rangers broke the deadlock in the fourth inning. Jung led off with a single, advanced to third on Joc Pederson’s double, and scored on a fielder’s choice by Alejandro Osuna. The play was upheld after a Cubs challenge, as Jung was ruled safe at home.
Texas added insurance in the eighth. Jung singled with two outs for his third hit of the day, and Carter launched a 3-2 slider from Daniel Palencia over the wall for a two-run homer, his fifth of the season.
