While a lot of people in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex might have had their attention on what the Dallas Cowboys did in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Texas Rangers went out and took care of business.

Actually, Jacob deGrom took care of that business with a stellar outing as the Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 at Globe Life Field on Thursday night.

The Rangers had a lot of two-legged fans in attendance, but there were some four-legged ones, too. It was Bark at the Park Night on Thursday night, so when the Rangers did something good on the field, then they might have heard howls of appreciation.

That's better than howls of disdain, of course.

OK, so what did deGrom do against the Pirates? He worked 5 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and one run -- that was on an Oneil Cruz solo home run -- while striking out 10 batters. deGrom looked pretty elite and raised his season record to 2-0. And, deGrom lowered his ERA to a nifty 2.13.

Pirates starter Bubba Chandler took the loss, dropping to 1-2 this season.

Rangers fans, besides seeing a lot of dogs at the park, also saw something they hadn't seen in a long time. Evan Carter came up in the first inning with two outs and the bases jammed with Rangers players. On a 2-2 pitch, Carter challenged a strike call. The ABS system didn't help Carter out, and the threat came to a halt.

Carter, though, came into some good fortune in the third inning. Pirates catcher Joey Bart challenged a ball call at the plate. Carter was on his way to first base, but the call at the plate was reversed by the ABS system. The next pitch saw Carter swing and miss, making it a full count.

On the very next pitch, Carter launched a blast to right-center field. Pirates outfielder Ryan O'Hearn couldn't make the catch, and the ball went off his glove and bounded toward center field. Cruz had to run that ball down as it rolled around with no one else near it.

He even slowed down around third 😅 #AllForTX pic.twitter.com/pgF9HSzBto

Josh Jung, who was on base at the time, scored while Carter ran around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. It's the first time since 2024 that the Rangers had an inside-the-park home run.

The Rangers increased their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning on Joc Pederson's RBI single. Then, with runners at first and third base with one out, Corey Seager slugged his sixth home run this season. Alejandro Osuna and Pederson scored ahead of him, giving Texas a 6-0 lead.

Cruz connected for his eighth homer this season in the top of the fifth for the Pirates.

But Pittsburgh couldn't mount anymore offense on Thursday night.

With the victory, the Rangers are now 13-12 on the season and in first place in the American League West Division. The Pirates fall to 14-11 and sit in fourth place in the National League East Division.

Texas will welcome the Athletics to Globe Life Field for a three-game weekend series starting on Friday night.

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