ARLINGTON, Texas — Jacob deGrom tied his season high with 10 strikeouts while earning the 1,900th of his career, Evan Carter hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Sunday.
The Texas right-hander — a DeLand native who played at Stetson University — allowed three hits in seven innings while striking out Ian Happ three times to end Happ’s career-best streak for reaching base at 30 games. He raised his record to 3-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.62.
The 1,900th strikeout for deGrom came in the first when Suzuki swung at a 91.3 mph slider to end the inning. He is the second-fastest in games (256) to reach 1,900 behind Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (252).
Johnson is second on the career strikeout list at 4,875. The left-hander was 33 when he reached 1,900, while deGrom turns 38 next month and has dealt with numerous injuries the past five years.
The 37-year-old deGrom is also the second-fastest to reach the milestone by innings (1,578.1) behind Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale (1,560.1), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Sale reached 1,900 strikeouts in 2019.
The Rangers took the series with consecutive shutouts — their fourth and fifth of the season — after the Cubs opened the three-game set with a victory that clinched their second 10-game winning streak in a span of 23 games.
Josh Jung, who had three hits for the second game in a row, opened the scoring by racing home from third on Alejandro Osuna’s grounder wide of first in the fourth, his foot touching home on his slide just before the tag from catcher Carson Kelly on Michael Busch’s throw. The Cubs challenged, and the call was upheld on review.
Jacob Latz retired all six batters in the eighth and ninth for his fourth save, striking out Seiya Suzuki to end the game with Happ waiting on deck.
Leadoff man Nico Hoerner had two hits off deGrom, but Chicago’s 2-3-4 hitters — including Happ — went 0 for 9 with eight strikeouts against the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong also entered the game with lengthy on-base streaks for the Cubs. Busch extended his to 12 with a single in the seventh. Crow-Armstrong’s ended at 13.
Up next
Cubs RHP Colin Rea (4-1, 4.03 ERA) is set for the series opener in Atlanta on Tuesday. Texas RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-4, 4.15) is scheduled to face Arizona at home Monday night.