BALTIMORE (AP) — Jacob deGrom held Baltimore hitless until Colton Cowser’s leadoff single in the eighth inning, leading the Texas Rangers over the Orioles 7-0 on Wednesday night.
The right-hander, who turned 37 on June 19, retired his first 18 batters before walking Jackson Holliday on a high and outside full count slider. He walked Ryan O’Hearn with two outs in the seventh, throwing four straight balls after getting ahead 0-2 in the count.
Cowser grounded a single to right on a 1-1 fastball.
DeGrom (8-2) won his fourth straight decision, striking out seven and walking two. A two-time Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star, he started 20 of 24 hitters with strikes and threw 59 of 89 pitches for strikes, averaging 98.4 mph with his fastball.
DeGrom has four complete games in 234 starts, pitching a one-hitter for the New York Mets against Philadelphia on July 17, 2016, when pitcher Zach Elfin hit a third-inning single.
Jacob Webb and Cole Winn each got three straight outs as Baltimore was held to one hit for the third time this season and shut out for the eighth time. The Orioles have lost four of their last five.
Josh Jung had three RBIs with an run-scoring single in the second and a two-run homer in the fourth off Brandon Young (0-2), helping Texas win its fourth straight road series.
Corey Seager and Marcus Semien hit run-scoring singles in a three-run fourth that included Adolis García’s sacrifice fly. Jonah Heim added a sixth-inning homer against Scott Blewett.
Left-hander Jacob Latz held the Orioles hitless Tuesday until Ramón Laureano’s leadoff single in the seventh. The Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt pitched seven hitless innings against Baltimore on Saturday, and Gary Sánchez started the eighth with a single off reliever JT Brubaker.
Cowser’s single was perfectly placed between Holliday at second and O’Hearn at first.
Texas has won 11 of deGrom’s 16 starts.
Rangers: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 1.56) starts a homestand opener against Seattle on Friday.
Orioles: RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.55) starts Friday night’s series opener against Tampa Bay.
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