​ARLINGTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 31: Jacob Degrom #48 of the Texas Rangers throws a pitch during the third inning against the Athletics at Globe Life Field on August 31, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images Rangers 8, A’s 1Baseball is fun again.And Jacob deGrom was dominant again.Bouncing back from a disastrous eight run outing where he was knocked out in the fourth inning, deGrom looked like vintage deGrom once again, facing the minimum 21 batters over seven innings while allowing just one baserunner — Laurence Butler, on a second inning single — who was then erased on a double play.This is the second time in his last three games that deGrom has allowed just one hit. What is interesting is that deGrom is generally either quite good, or not good at all. In 18 starts of his 26 starts, he’s allowed two runs or fewer.He’s allowed three runs in one start, and four runs in another start.In his other six starts he has allowed five runs twice, six runs three times, and eight runs once.The home/road splits are pretty extreme for deGrom this year…he has a 2.42 ERA in 13 starts at home, and a 5.86 ERA in 13 starts on the road. His walk rate is higher on the road, his K rate is lower, and 11 of the 17 homers he has allowed have come on the road.With 8 Ks, deGrom moved up from 93rd to 88th on the all time strikeout list, passing Catfish Hunter, Dan Haren, Orel Hershiser, Rick Reuschel and Lance Lynn. He’s now 15 behind Aaron Nola, 27 behind Dazzy Vance, 35 behind Sonny Gray, and 52 behind Madison Bumgarner.The game was far enough out of reach late that the newly-recalled Robby Ahlstrom and Ben “Power to the” Peoples got to go an inning apiece to finish things out. Ahlstrom faced the minimum, but sadly, Peoples allowed a run on two outs, ending both the shutout and the one hitter.Per Statcast, the A’s had a .132 xBA in the game, so it wasn’t as if they were stinging the ball and just seeing it find gloves. Its the second lowest xBA allowed in a game this season by the Rangers, and the 79th lowest in the majors.The Rangers scored early and often, putting runs on the board in four of the first five innings and taking a comfy 7-0 lead into the sixth inning. Ezequiel Duran, anointed the leadoff man for the first time in his career, was 1 for 4 with a walk, and he is now slashing .273/.331/.448 on the year, which I don’t think any of us were expecting.Duran has also started a game in every spot in the batting order this season, 1 through 9. I’m curious as to how often a player does that.Justin Foscue homered. Way to go, Justin!Cody Freeman had a couple of hits, as he continues to play regularly against lefthanded pitching.It occurred to me when I was doing the lineup yesterday that I hadn’t typed in Nicky Lopez’s name for a while. His last start was on August 19 — since then, he has appeared in just six games, coming in in the middle or late innings. The last two times he has entered the g