Connect with us

Published

on

ARLINGTON — Perhaps there’s some irony in Jacob deGrom‘s first start as a Texas Ranger on Thursday. Known for getting little run support in his years with the New York Mets, deGrom got plenty from his new teammates – except they came after he was chased from the game by the Philadelphia Phillies.

DeGrom, 34, lasted just 3⅔ innings, giving up five runs on six hits, all for extra bases, including five to the opposite field. Both the extra base hits and opposite field ones were career highs given up by deGrom. It was just the fifth time in his career he allowed five earned runs.

“I’m not thrilled how I threw the ball but we got the win,” deGrom said after the 11-7 victory. “I went back and looked at some of the pitches that they hit. They did a good job of battling. Some of those were off the plate.”

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm got to him twice, with a second inning home run and fourth inning double. It came after deGrom mowed down Philadelphia in the first inning, striking out two while throwing only 10 pitches. But then the struggles began as the Phillies started going to right field, both against deGrom’s fastball and slider. He was clocking in at 99 to 101 mph on the radar gun but not putting guys away in the second and third innings.

“I need to make an adjustment,” deGrom said. “I need to see them leaning out over and make the adjustment and go into [inside] them.”

New Rangers manager Bruce Bochy summed it up this way: “He wasn’t quite as sharp today. That’s fair to say.”

Neither was Phillies starter Aaron Nola. Staked to a 5-0 lead, the Rangers stormed back, scoring nine times in the fourth inning. Right fielder Robbie Grossman‘s three-run shot tied the score at 5 before Nola was pulled shortly thereafter.

“All I can say is baseball is back and the roller coaster of emotions is [also],” Grossman said. “I’m just glad we came away with a win.”

Grossman was asked how often its likely deGrom will pick up the offense after they picked him up on Opening Day.

“A lot, a lot,” Grossman said. “I’m just glad I don’t have to face him anymore.”

DeGrom was only scheduled to throw about 65 pitches as he was slowed at the beginning of spring training with a side issue. He made it to 73, declaring himself ready to expand his pitch count as soon as his next start. He just wants it to go better.

“I didn’t make pitches when I needed to but the most important thing is we got a win,” he said.

The victory was the first for Bochy since 2019 as the three-time winning World Series manager said he felt blessed to be back in the dugout. Putting up a crooked number after getting down 5-0 helped his mood after the game.

“Not quite like we thought the game would go with those two guys starting,” Bochy said. “It’s about picking each other up. Good comeback. Great comeback.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Springer’s 7 RBIs help Jays pile on Yankees late

Published

on

By

Springer's 7 RBIs help Jays pile on Yankees late

George Springer had a career-high seven RBIs, including his ninth grand slam, and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated Canada Day by beating the Yankees 12-5 on Tuesday and closing within one game of American League East-leading New York.

The seven RBIs are tied for the second most by any Blue Jays player in a home game, behind Edwin Encarnación (nine RBIs in 2015), according to ESPN Research.

Andrés Giménez had a go-ahead, three-run homer for the Blue Jays, who overcame a 2-0 deficit against Max Fried. After the Yankees tied the score 4-4 in the seventh, Toronto broke open the game in the bottom half against a reeling Yankees bullpen.

Springer went 3-for-4, starting the comeback with a solo homer in the fourth against Fried and boosting the lead to 9-5 with the slam off Luke Weaver after Ernie Clement‘s go-ahead single off shortstop Anthony Volpe‘s glove. Springer has 13 homers this season.

Toronto won the first two games of the four-game series and closed within one game of the Yankees for the first time since before play on April 20.

New York went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position, dropping to 3-for-24 in the series, while the Blue Jays were 5-for-7. After going 13-14 in June, the Yankees fell to 10-14 against AL East rivals.

The Associate Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Astros’ Alvarez to see hand specialist after setback

Published

on

By

Astros' Alvarez to see hand specialist after setback

DENVER — Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team’s spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.

He will be shut down until he’s evaluated by the specialist.

“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night’s series opener at Colorado, which the Astros won 6-5. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We’re just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”

Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it’s uncertain when he’ll play.

“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn’t want.”

Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ohtani’s 30th HR before break ties Dodgers mark

Published

on

By

Ohtani's 30th HR before break ties Dodgers mark

Shohei Ohtani reached 30 homers for the fifth straight season, hitting a fourth-inning drive after fouling a pitch off the plate umpire, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night.

Ohtani fouled the ball off Alan Porter’s right knee in the fourth. Ohtani checked on the umpire and stood by watching until Parker got up under his own power. The three-time MVP then hit a 408-foot shot to center, snapping an 0-for-6 skid and extending the lead to 6-1. He tied Cody Bellinger in 2019 for most home runs before the All-Star break in Dodgers history; Bellinger won National League MVP that year.

Ohtani joined Seattle‘s Cal Raleigh (33) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (30) as players with at least 30 homers by the All-Star break; it marks the fifth season that three players have reached the 30-homer threshold before the break (2019, 1998, 1994, 1969).

As for Ohtani, this is his third season hitting at least 30 home runs before the break, tying Ken Griffey Jr. for third most in MLB history (Judge and Mark McGwire each did so for four seasons).

During the seventh-inning stretch, Ohtani walked over and checked on Porter again before leading off.

Los Angeles scored its most runs this season in support of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6), staking the Japanese right-hander to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

The Dodgers won for the 13th time in 16 games and opened a season-high, eight-game NL West lead. They are 16-5 (.762 win percentage) since June 8, the best record in MLB during that span.

Every run Tuesday night was scored with two outs.

Yamamoto allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one.

White Sox rookie Shane Smith (3-6) got two quick outs in the first before walking Will Smith and Max Muncy back-to-back. Teoscar Hernández followed with an RBI single, Andy Pages hit a run-scoring double and Michael Conforto had a two-run single.

Chicago’s lone run came on Lenyn Sosa‘s RBI single in the third.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Trending