Column: Jacob deGrom dominates Chicago Cubs in 3-0 win. Is the Texas Rangers star a Hall of Famer?
ARLINGTON, Texas — The old adage in baseball is that a pitcher doesn’t look at the opposing hurler because he only has to focus on the hitters. But Chicago Cubs starter Jameson Taillon ignored conventional wisdom Sunday as Texas Rangers star Jacob deGrom was mowing down Cubs hitters in a 3-0 win at Globe Life Field. “I don’t really pay too much mind to the pitching matchup, but somebody like deGrom, you’re obviously aware,” Taillon said.
“You can kind of feel him picking up steam and the strikeouts and the fans getting behind him. “The guy is probably a future Hall of Famer and one of the best to do it. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the top three, four in the game.
” DeGrom outdueled Taillon for his 99th career win, handing the Cubs their first series loss since the Los Angeles Dodgers took two of three April 24-26 at Dodger Stadium. After their second 10-game winning streak ended Saturday , the Cubs (27-14) now have been shut out in back-to-back games and gone 20 innings without a run. “We didn’t have the best offensive game the last two games,” left fielder Ian Happ said.
“But that just means it’s coming. This group is too good to have a couple straight shutouts and not put up some big numbers moving forward. ” The 37-year-old deGrom, a probable first-ballot Hall of Famer if not for a series of injuries — including two Tommy John surgeries — shut out the Cubs for seven innings, allowing three hits and striking out 10.
He looked just like he did in his prime with the New York Mets, albeit without the shoulder-length hair. He had 22 whiffs, a season high for Cubs hitters, and passed the 1,900-strikeout mark in the first inning, the second-fastest pitcher to reach that milestone in both games (256) and innings pitched (1,578 1/3). Randy Johnson did it in 252 games, Chris Sale in 1,560 1/3 innings.
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