Rangers Blank Cubs in Series Finale

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

May 10, 2026

Rangers 3, Cubs 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 10) — The Texas Rangers treated everyone to a 3–0 win over the Chicago Cubs for Mother’s Day. A two-run home run by Evan Carter in the eighth inning was the key factor in this one. With this three-game set in the win column, the Rangers host the Arizona Diamondbacks for three beginning Monday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Michael Soroka (4–2, 4.14 ERA) will face righty Nathan Eovaldi (4–4, 4.15 RA) in the series opener.

The Cubs, meanwhile, will begin the next leg of their nine-game road trip with a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves. The opener of that series will get underway Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 pm Eastern. Right-hander Colin Rea (4–1, 4.03 ERA) will take the mound for the Cubs. The Braves have yet to announce their starting pitcher as of press time.

Quite a Pitchers Duel

Much to the chagrin of the restless crowd, both teams traded zeroes for the first three innings and change. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the fourth against righty Jameson Taillon. With three leadoff hits to his credit in Saturday’s game, Josh Jung added another by a single to left. After Carter flied to left, Joc Pederson sent Jung to third with a double to right. Up next was Alejandro Osuna, who reached on a fielder’s choice fielded by Cubs first baseman Michael Busch. There was a close tag play at the plate, which the Cubs unsuccessfully challenged. Upon further review, Jung was ruled safe at home.

The Rangers added a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Daniel Palencia. With one out in the inning, Jung collected his third hit of the game with a single to right. That brought his batting average to .331 for the campaign. Carter followed by belting his fifth homer of the year, a two-run shot to right.

What Went Right for the Rangers

This was one of those days where the Rangers were getting production from the middle of their lineup. Jung’s hits came from the cleanup spot, Carter was batting right behind him, and Pederson was after Carter. The afternoon they put together is what you like to see from your four, five, and six hitters.

They also did well defensively. The Rangers’ staff only allowed three hits in the contest, none of whom came around to score.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The only thing that went wrong for the Rangers is they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. It’s no secret they have had problems scoring in 2026, especially at Globe Life Field. It’s something they must improve on.

Milestone for deGrom

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom picked up his third win of the season. He is now 3–2 with an ERA of 2.62 after twirling seven scoreless stanzas. The rest of his line was 3 H, 0 BB, 10 K, 94 pitches/65 strikes against the Cubs. deGrom posted his 63rd career start of 10 or more strikeouts, which ranks fourth-most among active pitchers. Sunday was deGrom’s fourth career start of seven or more scoreless innings, three or fewer hits, no walks, and 10 or more strikeouts. It was his first such start since April 23, 2021 against the Washington Nationals. deGrom and Chris Sale are the only actives with as many as four such outings in their careers.

deGrom reached 1900 career strikeouts with his strikeout of Seiya Suzuki in the first, becoming the second-fastest pitcher by both games (256) and innings (1578 1/3) to achieve the milestone, trailing only Randy Johnson (252 games) and Sale (1560 1/3 IP), respectively. He retired each of his first nine batters to open the ballgame before Nico Hoerner’s double leading off the fourth inning. deGrom has now pitched in six rubber games since joining the Rangers in 2023, going 5–0 with a 1.22 ERA. Sunday’s outing lowered his season ERA to 2.62, ranking eighth in the AL at the conclusion of Sunday’s contest.

Reliever Jacob Latz took over for deGrom in the eighth, earning his fourth save of the year stretching across two innings. He went six up, six down and recorded one strikeout.

Taillon’s Outing

Cubs starter Jameson Taillon shouldered the defeat despite allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings, bringing his record to 2–2 with an ERA of 3.94. His line was 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 90 pitches/61 strikes. Sunday was his first loss when allowing a single tally since September 21, 2025 against the Cincinnati Reds and fourth such loss in his career. This was his second start this year tossing five or more innings and allowing one run or less. It was his third career start at Globe Life Field and his first time allowing fewer than four runs in that ballpark. His career ERA against the Rangers is 5.18.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker reflected on deGrom’s day. “We’ve said it before about vintage Jacob deGrom. He was on the attack with a low pitch count,” he said. “I think he had 10 strikeouts. That’s so hard to do when you don’t throw that many pitches in a start. We thought his pitch count was where it needed to be after seven innings and we didn’t want to push him any further. He did his job well this afternoon.”