Jacob deGrom-Yoshinobu Yamamoto Duel Was Aces at Their Finest

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers arranged their starting pitching so that their aces faced each other Friday night at Globe Life Field.

It was a case study in why the starting pitcher is still baseball’s biggest draw.

The Rangers’ Jacob deGrom and the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto both went seven innings in the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory. Both had their best outings of the season. Both pitched like the highly paid aces they are.

It was a shame one of them had to lose in front of a sellout crowd for just the second time this season at Globe Life Field.

But Rangers manager Bruce Bochy left impressed with both pitchers.

“Jacob, terrific job,” Bochy said. “He had really good stuff tonight, good location. He did a really, really nice job. Their guy (Yamamoto) was tough on us.”

Their outings were quite similar. Both went seven innings for the first time this season. Yamamoto gave up five hits while deGrom allowed just three. Yamamoto struck out 10 and deGrom struck out seven. deGrom walked one and Yamamoto walked none.

deGrom’s longest outing was 5.2 innings against Tampa Bay two weeks ago. Yamamoto had pitched six innings in his last two starts.

deGrom's night and pitch chart:

7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. Terrific outing. pic.twitter.com/V3kVBpo8rs
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) April 19, 2025

The only difference? deGrom gave up a leadoff solo home run to Tommy Edman in the first inning and it felt like things could get away from him right there. deGrom left a pitch elevated and Edman slugged it into the Rangers’ bullpen.

“I’m at my best when I’m down (in the zone),” deGrom said. “That’s what I’ve struggled with so far this year. That was a mistake up. When that ball went over the fence, I’m like, ‘All right, let’s go lock this in and get it down.’ It’s probably going to be a low-scoring game.”

After that, he took it to the Dodgers and struck out two of the game’s best hitters, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, back-to-back, before getting Teoscar Hernandez to fly out to end the inning.

From there, deGrom was his two-time Cy Young self. The only two hits he allowed were singles to Max Muncy and Edman, who was later caught stealing. Betts drew the only walk.

“He was just locating a lot better,” Bochy said. “That’s who he is, hitting both sides with all of his pitches. He was on top of his game.”

Yamamoto is done. 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10K. Remarkable symmetry with deGrom. pic.twitter.com/Uucjvod738
— Matthew Postins (@PostinsPostcard) April 19, 2025

But when aces face each other, one tends to elevate the other’s game. Such was the case with Yamamoto. He gave up two extra-base hits and had two runners on in the third inning after a Marcus Semien single and a Corey Seager double. But he induced a groundout from Joc Pederson to end the inning.

He gave up just two more hits after that. Outfielder Dustin Harris was the only Rangers player with two hits. Bochy said the second-year Major Leaguer got his batters to chase more frequently than he expected.

“He has really, really good stuff,” Bochy said. “He’s got good velocity and, man, he’s got a good split (finger fastball). It’s a big pitch for him. It’s hard to lay off of it. You have your work cut out for you when you face him.”

With Texas right-hander Nathan Eovaldi set to face Los Angeles rookie sensation Roki Sasaki on Saturday, both the Rangers and Dodgers have given fans a treat on a holiday weekend in which attendance, as evidenced by Friday’s game, is mandatory.

It was a perfect example of why great starting pitching will always matter.

Recommended Articles