The Texas Rangers really needed a solid start from pitcher Jacob deGrom on Sunday, especially with the team going up against Roki Sasaki and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Thankfully, the Rangers' offense bopped around Sasaki as they posted a 5-2 win at Dodger Stadium. deGrom worked six innings, giving up four hits and one earned run. That run? Shohei Ohtani's leadoff home run for the Dodgers in the top of the first inning.
In his outing, deGrom walked three and struck out nine.
Speaking of Sasaki, he's gotten off to a really tough start. With the loss on Sunday, Sasaki's record falls to 0-2 with an incredible 6.23 ERA.
What about the Rangers' offense? Josh Jung went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. Brandon Nimmo went 2-for-5 with two RBIs in the game.
Ohtani's first-inning homer gives him five homers on the season.
Then, in the top of the third inning, Evan Carter hit his second home run this season, a solo shot, to even the score at 1-1. Jung singled to right, scoring Joc Pederson and putting Texas up 2-1.
The Rangers added another run in the top of the sixth inning, going up 3-1 over the Dodgers.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Los Angeles free agent superstar Kyle Tucker singled to right. Dalton Rushing scored on the base hit, putting the Dodgers within 3-2 at that point.
But the Rangers were not done scoring. In the top of the eighth inning, Nimmo singled to center field, bringing home Jung. That gave Texas a 4-2 lead. The Rangers added another run in the inning to take a 5-2 advantage.
Jakob Junis, the fourth Rangers pitcher used on Sunday, picked up his third save of the season.
With the victory, the Rangers go to 8-7 this season and are in first place in the American League West Division. As for the Dodgers, they are now 11-4 overall and also sit in first place, but they're in the National League West Division.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker must be happy with how the team played on Sunday, especially with deGrom proving quite dominant on the mound.
Rangers fans probably are really happy, too, with the job that Schumaker is doing in his first year as the team's manager.
After Sunday's game, the Rangers headed north to Sacramento, Calif., where they'll open a four-game series against Nick Kurtz and the Athletics. The Rangers' West Coast road trip continues after that stop in Sacramento. They'll go to T-Mobile Park for a three-game series against Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and the Seattle Mariners.
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