deGrom Notches 2000th Strikeout as Rangers Beat Nationals

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

August 21, 2026

Rangers 2, Nationals 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (Aug 20) — The Texas Rangers finished their series with the Washington Nationals on a high note, beating them, 2–0. With this victory, they creep back to one game behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros, who were trounced, 18–3, by the Los Angeles Angels. Right-hander Jacob deGrom made history by notching his 2,000th career strikeout as he helped lead the Rangers to a much-needed win. With this series in the books, they turn their attention to the Angels for three. That series begins Friday with first pitch slated for 7:15 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a matchup of lefties as Reid Detmers (4–8, 3.78 ERA) will face MacKenzie Gore (7–9, 4.45 ERA).

As for the Nationals, they will wrap up their road trip with a three-game set against the Miami Marlins. The opener will be on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:10 pm Eastern at loanDepot Park. Right-hander Brad Lord (5–2, 4.04 ERA) will go up against fellow righty Ryan Gusto (0–3, 4.70 ERA).

Eager Seager

The game remained in a scoreless tie for the first two and a half innings. The Rangers got into the run column in the bottom of the third off left-hander Andrew Alvarez. With one out and a 2–2 count, Corey Seager stepped in and hit a solo shot two rows into the seats in left for his 13th home run of the year.

The Rangers added one more in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Tom Cosgrove. Ezequiel Duran hit a one-out triple over the head of a leaping Daylen Lile in right. It rolled against the wall, leaving Duran plenty of time to reach third. On deck was Nicky Lopez, who drove in Duran with a sacrifice fly to center.

What Went Right for the Rangers

Seager and Lopez were a big part of this win for the Rangers. Seager had his blast in the third, and Lopez came up with his sacrifice fly to drive in Duran in the eighth. The pitching staff, however, was just as important on Thursday. Four pitchers appeared in this game and put forth an effort in which they allowed only one hit.

The Rangers and Atlanta Braves both threw one-hit shutouts on Thursday. It’s the first time there were two shutouts with one or no hits allowed on the same day since June 25, 2022. The Astros had a no-hitter at the New York Yankees that day. The Minnesota Twins held the Colorado Rockies to one hit on the same day, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

What Went Wrong for the Rangers

The only thing the Rangers could have done more of is score. They left eight men on base and went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

deGrom Makes History

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom surpassed 2,000 career strikeouts as part of a six-scoreless-inning performance with a season-high-tying 10 punch-outs. With the win, he improves to 9–8 with a 3.77 ERA. His final line was 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 94 pitches/60 strikes. He also had 10 strikeouts on April 23 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and May 10 versus the Chicago Cubs. deGrom wasted no time in reaching the career milestone, striking out the first two batters he faced in the top of the first for No. 1,999 (Daylen Lile) and 2,000 (Abimelec Ortiz). deGrom achieved the feat on a 92.6-mph slider that Ortiz swung through.

deGrom yielded one hit Thursday, a single from Brady House, in the second. After the knock, the Nationals went 0-for-14 with one walk and seven strikeouts against deGrom. Thursday was his third career start of six or more scoreless frames, one or zero hits, and 10 or more strikeouts. He also did it on May 21, 2015 versus the St. Louis Cardinals and June 11, 2021 versus the San Diego Padres, both with the New York Mets. The last Ranger with such a start was Nathan Eovaldi on August 29, 2024 at the Chicago White Sox (7 IP, 1 H, 10 K). deGrom completed Thursday’s outing with 2,008 career strikeouts.

deGrom is the 95th pitcher in baseball history with 2,000 strikeouts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He is the ninth active pitcher to reach the mark and the second this season, joining Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies, who hit the milestone August 8 in a 7–5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rangers reliever Jacob Latz picked up his 25th save of the season. He walked one and struck out three in the ninth.

Alvarez’ Evening

Nationals starter Andrew Alvarez took a tough-luck loss Thursday, allowing one run across five innings. His line was 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 75 pitches/41 strikes. His record now sits at 2–5 with a 3.60 ERA. Alvarez tossed two scoreless stanzas to open the game before permitting the one-out solo home run to Seager in the third. Alvarez snapped a 58 2/3-inning homer-less streak, the fourth-longest streak in Nationals history. Over his last five starts, Alvarez has a 2.36 ERA but is winless in that span with an 0–2 record. He became the second Nationals pitcher to shoulder a loss in a start of five or more innings and one or zero runs allowed in 2026. Zach Littell was the other, doing so on July 24 versus the Arizona Diamondbacks (5 IP, 1 R). In a fun epilogue, Littell now plays for the Diamondbacks.

Schumaker’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker couldn’t help but praise deGrom’s performance. “It’s Chris Sale and deGrom, that’s it right now, at that age, doing it still at this elite level,” he stated. “It just means he’s done it for a long time at an extremely high level. Today was kind of vintage deGrom. That’s what it looked like when I faced him back in the day. I’m not kidding you — that’s exactly how it looked. It was just a dominant performance.”