DeGrom Celebrates 38th Birthday with Stellar Performance in Rangers' Thrilling Win over Padres

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom celebrated turning 38 by delivering an impressive performance, striking out nine batters over six innings, as the Texas Rangers secured a 9-7 victory against the San Diego Padres in a high-scoring matchup on Friday night. Despite giving up a grand slam to Ty France in the first inning, deGrom was able to lead his team to victory.

In a peculiar start, the game began with only two umpires present, and the Padres quickly took a commanding 5-0 lead thanks to France's grand slam, which marked the first of his two home runs in the game. However, when deGrom returned to the mound for the second inning, the Rangers had turned the tide and held a 6-5 advantage.

France managed to tie the game with a home run in the fourth inning, but the Rangers quickly regained control in the bottom half when Wyatt Langford contributed an RBI double. Langford also hit a home run to lead off the eighth inning. The two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom retired 16 of the final 19 batters he faced and finished the night with 106 pitches, securing his 102nd career win.

The Rangers' six-run first inning featured a series of clutch hits, including consecutive two-out doubles from Alejandro Osuna and Jake Burger, capped off by a go-ahead single from No. 9 batter Elias Díaz. This game marked the fourth consecutive outing in which the Rangers allowed multiple runs in the first inning at home, following a sweep by Minnesota.

San Diego's Gavin Sheets contributed to the score with a single and later hit a solo home run in the eighth inning. Due to travel delays, only Emil Jimenez and John Bacon were available as umpires at the start, with two additional umpires joining midway through the first inning.

Looking ahead, Walker Buehler (4-3, 4.14 ERA) is set to start for San Diego on Saturday, while Nathan Eovaldi (6-7, 4.23) will take the mound for Texas. Both pitchers previously faced off in the memorable 18-inning Game 3 of the 2018 World Series.