deGrom leads Rangers past Pirates, 6-1 in Arlington

Jacob deGrom gave Texas the kind of start that can shape a rotation, 5 2/3 innings of power pitching in a 6-1 win over Pittsburgh at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He struck out 10, allowed five hits and one earned run, walked one and improved to 2-0 as the Rangers closed the rubber match of the three-game series with a controlled, no-drama victory.

For Texas, the result mattered because it was not built on a late rally or a narrow escape. The Rangers scored six runs, collected nine hits and committed no errors, while Pittsburgh managed only five hits and one run without an error. That margin reflected the gap between a club getting dependable front-end pitching and timely power, and one that could not convert limited offense into real pressure.

DeGrom’s outing lowered his ERA to 2.13 across six starts and gave him the 62nd 10-strikeout game of his career. It also pushed the conversation around Texas’ rotation hierarchy further toward certainty. At 253 major league starts, deGrom is still the veteran reference point, and his performance against Pittsburgh was the clearest reminder yet that the Rangers can lean on him when they need command, strikeouts and efficient outs in the same night.

Texas backed him with immediate run support. Evan Carter hit a two-run inside-the-park home run, his first career inside-the-park homer and Texas’ first since Wyatt Langford in 2024. Corey Seager added a three-run home run, and Joc Pederson drove in another run with an RBI single. Oneil Cruz accounted for Pittsburgh’s only run with a solo home run, but the Pirates never built enough around it to change the game’s direction.

Bubba Chandler took the loss and dropped to 1-2 after allowing six earned runs in four innings. He gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out four in what the Pirates said was his shortest outing of the season. Chandler, making just his ninth major league start, was hit hard once Texas started stringing together contact and power.

Afterward, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said of deGrom, “I thought that was the best he's thrown all year.” Chandler, left to absorb the damage, was more blunt: “Flush it. That’s about it.” For Texas, the night was less about one win than about what it suggested, that when deGrom is at this level, the Rangers look much closer to a club built to control its season than one hoping to survive it.