ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 05: Jacob deGrom #48 of the Texas Rangers throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field on April 05, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Jung hit a tiebreaking two-run homer soon after Jacob deGrom threw his final pitch of the game, giving the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner his first victory in the American League as the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Wednesday.
DeGrom (1-0) retired the first 12 batters he faced and finished with 11 strikeouts, but the game was tied 2-2 after he ended the sixth with back-to-back Ks. The right-hander, who in free agency signed a $185 million, five-year contract after his first nine big league seasons with the New York Mets, got a no-decision in the season opener.
Jung’s second homer this season came in the bottom of the sixth off Austin Voth (0-1), who had taken over in relief after top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez went five innings in his big-league debut and finished with a no-decision.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 05: Josh Jung #6 of the Texas Rangers hits a two-run home run during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field on April 05, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
José Leclerc worked a perfect ninth for his first save and extended the scoreless streak for Rangers relievers to 21 1/3 innings.
Texas avoided a series sweep and ended its eight-game skid against the Orioles, who won all six of their games against the Rangers last season.
After striking out Baltimore’s 1-3 batters on 10 pitches in the fourth, deGrom needed 25 pitches to get out of the fifth. That included Ryan Mountcastle’s leadoff double to deep center, a four-pitch walk and second baseman Marcus Semien’s fielding error before Adam Frazier’s game-tying RBI single tied the game.
In his Rangers debut last Thursday, deGrom struck out seven, but allowed five runs on six extra-base hits over 3 2/3 innings. He limited Baltimore to two hits, and walked two while throwing 58 of 92 pitches for strikes.
Rangers' Josh Smith 'doing fine' after being hit in jaw with 89 mph pitch
Rangers utility man Josh Smith was back in the Rangers locker room on Tuesday after he was hit in the jaw with an 89 mph pitch on Monday night.
Rodriguez settled down after needing 30 pitches to get through the first inning, when he allowed back-to-back RBI hits to Adolis García and Jung as Texas took a 2-0 lead. The right-hander retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced, and struck out All-Star shortstop Corey Seager twice.
The Orioles called up the 23-year-old Rodriguez after Kyle Gibson, their scheduled starter for the finale, was moved up a day to pitch Tuesday in place of Tyler Wells, who ended up having to pitch in long relief Monday.
Rodriguez was the 11th overall pick by the Orioles in the 2018 draft out of Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas, which is about 175 miles from Globe Life Field. He threw 53 of 83 pitches for strikes and walked only one batter.
Rangers are off Thursday before their first road game of the season, Friday at the Chicago Cubs.