ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — 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 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.
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.
The 1,900th strikeout for deGrom came in the first when Suzuki swung at a 91.3 mph slider to end the inning. He was the second-fastest in games (256) to reach 1,900 behind Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (252).
The 37-year-old was also and the second-fastest in innings (1,578 1/3) behind Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale (1,560 1/3), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
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.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
