After deGrom’s exit, Rangers finish off Royals
RANGERS 4, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jacob deGrom exited with a sore right wrist after pitching four spotless innings, and two Texas Rangers relievers completed a one-hitter Monday night in a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The Rangers said deGrom was removed as a precaution. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner struck out 5 and walked 1, throwing 39 of his 58 pitches for strikes.
“I felt it a little bit warming up,” deGrom said. “I thought it was going to loosen up and it actually tightened up a little bit as the game went on.
“We’re playing it smart. Could I have kept going? Probably. But it was lingering and it got a little bit worse as the game went on. I just want to play it safe. We’ve got a long season ahead of us.”
Texas Manager Bruce Bochy said there’s concern any time you have to take a player out of a game because of injury, but he’s optimistic.
“We’ll re-evaluate him [today],” Bochy said. “Any time you take somebody out, that’s a fair question. I think I can answer it better tomorrow. Right now, I feel pretty good about it.”
Josh Jung launched a three-run homer in the first inning and Marcus Semien added a solo shot in the third. Dane Dunning (1-0) struck out five and walked none in 41/3 innings of relief.
“He’s been doing a terrific job for us,” Bochy said. “With the confidence in Dane coming in, we felt good. We brought in a guy who’s been throwing the ball well. He was set to go, so that was an easy call.”
Matt Duffy’s one-out single in the fifth off Dunning was Kansas City’s only hit. Jose Leclerc got two outs to end it.
Beset by injuries the past two seasons with the New York Mets, deGrom signed a $185 million, five-year contract with Texas as a free agent in December.
“I’m honestly not too concerned,” he said. “I would like to think I’ll make my next [start], but we’ll see how it is [today].”
ANGELS 5, RED SOX 4 Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run home run, and visiting Los Angeles avoided a four-game series sweep by beating Boston. Angels star Shohei Ohtani pitched two hitless innings before departing because of a long rain delay. He allowed one run on Rob Refsnyder’s groundout in the first.
ASTROS 9, BLUE JAYS 2 Jake Meyers hit a three-run homer in host Houston’s seven-run first inning. Meyers and Corey Julks each finished with two hits and three RBI. Houston’s Cristian Javier (2-0) pitched five innings of one-run ball.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 6, CARDINALS 3 Pavin Smith hit his first career grand slam, sending Arizona past host St. Louis. Ketel Marte also homered for the Diamondbacks. Merrill Kelly (1-2) pitched six innings of one-run ball, and Andrew Chafin got three outs for his third save.
MARLINS 4, GIANTS 3 Jorge Soler hit a tworun homer in the seventh inning, leading host Miami to a win over San Francisco, its fifth win in six games. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez each had two hits for the Marlins.
PIRATES 14, ROCKIES 3 Andrew McCutchen homered, Mark Mathias had a career-high four hits and host Pittsburgh took advantage of an off night from Colorado starter Kyle Freeland to beat the Rockies. Freeland (2-1) posted a 0.96 ERA through his first three starts and had pitched at least six innings in each outing but was ineffective against the Pirates. McCutchen, who had two hits, launched a solo homer in the first inning — his third of the season — and the first seven Pittsburgh batters reached in a six-run second.
INTERLEAGUE
REDS 8, RAYS 1 TJ Friedl drove in four runs, and host Cincinnati beat Tampa Bay after Reds right-hander Hunter Greene departed with a leg injury. Kevin Newman homered for Cincinnati, and Nick Senzel scored two runs.