The Athletics have yet to win a series in three tries in their temporary home in West Sacramento, Calif.
They’ll try to change that Thursday night when they face the American League West-leading Texas Rangers in the rubber match of their three-game series.
Jacob deGrom (0-1, 3.32 ERA) will try for his first win in almost exactly two years for the Rangers when he opposes rookie J.T. Ginn (1-1, 3.60) in a battle of right-handers.
A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2023. He hasn’t won a game since April 23, 2023, when he defeated the Athletics.
DeGrom is coming off his best start of the season on Friday, when he allowed one run — a lead-off homer to Tommy Edman — on three hits over seven innings in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He walked one, struck out seven and retired 20 of the last 23 batters he faced.
“His command is unbelievable,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “Unflappable. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game. (After Edman’s blast), he sort of kept us at bay. We didn’t really have an answer for him tonight.”
Unfortunately for the Rangers, Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto was even better on Friday, scattering five hits over seven shutout innings while striking out 10.
“Our guy was outstanding,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. “Terrific job by Jacob. He had really good stuff tonight, good location. He did a really, really nice job.”
DeGrom is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two career starts against the A’s.
Ginn, in turn, is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in one career start against the Rangers, allowing two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-2 victory last Sept. 26.
Texas, behind a three-run homer by Marcus Semien and solo shots by Wyatt Langford, Josh Smith and Jake Burger, won the series opener 8-5 on Tuesday.
The Athletics evened the series with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday. Shea Langeliers went 4-for-4 with a double and RBI, Lawrence Butler homered leading off the first inning, and first base prospect Nick Kurtz had an RBI single in his first at-bat in the majors.
“Obviously, feels pretty good when you’re getting hits like that,” Langeliers said. “At the end of the day, just glad to come away with the win.”
The Athletics batted around while taking a 4-0 lead in the first, pounding out six hits against Texas starter Kumar Rocker during a 39-pitch inning. Rocker left after just 1 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits while throwing 63 pitches.
“Our guy just had a tough time getting going,” Bochy said. “Threw a lot of pitches there. Just made some mistakes in the strike zone. He couldn’t quite get it where he wanted it, left it up in the heart of the plate, and they took advantage of it.”
One positive for the Rangers was that Joc Pederson ended his 0-for-41 drought with a double off hard-throwing A’s closer Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth.
“We were happy for him,” Bochy said. “You hope something like this gets him going.”
–Field Level Media
