Gurriel extends majors’ longest hitting streak to 15 games, Diamondbacks beat Phillies 6-3

Associated PressMay 23, 2023, 12:14 AM EDT
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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PHILADELPHIA – Lourdes Gurriel Jr. extending the longest active hitting streak in the majors to 15 games with a homer, double and two RBIs as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3.

Pavin Smith also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won eight of their last 10 games and five of seven on their nine-game trip to Oakland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott hit solo homers for the Phillies, who have lost six of their last eight games.

Gurriel, acquired by Arizona over the winter in a three-player trade with Toronto, went 4 for 4 and improved his average to .321. During his hitting streak, Gurriel has a .416 average (25 for 60) with six doubles, seven homers and 14 RBIs. On the road this season, Gurriel is hitting .351 (19 for 54) with three doubles, four homers and 9 RBIs in his last 13 games.

“I feel very comfortable,” Gurriel said. “The hitting coaches have worked great with me and we have had a very good communication together.”

In the second inning, Gurriel connected on a hanging sweeper from Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, driving the ball into the left-center field seats for his eighth homer of the season. He capped off the night with a scorching liner just inside the first base bag in the eighth inning, scoring Christian Walker with an insurance run after Philadelphia had closed within 4-3.

“He’s just a great hitter and its fun to watch the approach,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “He gets a slider middle-up and middle-in and hits it for the big home run. And when these guys go out and perform at an elite level, I have a front row seat and it’s awful fun for me.”

Wheeler (3-4) was slowed by a fielding error by Stott on a possible Gabriel Moreno double play ball in the second. It proved costly when Geraldo Perdomo doubled into the right field corner, scoring two runs.

Schwarber and Stott cut the deficit to one run with solo homers in the fourth inning off Diamondbacks left-hander Tommy Henry (2-1). Smith answered in the fifth with a leadoff solo shot off Wheeler, who allowed eight hits and three earned runs during his six innings of work.

“I thought he was better than the line,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “The Gurriel home run and the (Smith) home run were one of the few balls that were hard hit. Maybe Perdomo’s ball as well, but there were a lot of soft hits. They did a nice job to get his pitch count up, but he fought through six and that was huge for us.”

Trea Turner ended an 0-for-22 slump with runners in scoring position when he hit an RBI single in the seventh for the Phillies.

Henry allowed four hits, including the two solo homers, and struck out five. He had 18 swings and misses among his 93 pitches. Andrew Chafin picked up his seventh save of the season.

TRAINERS ROOM

Phillies: LHP Jose Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) threw off flat ground during pre-game work at Citizens Bank Park on Monday. If he feels well enough on Tuesday after a cool down day, manager Rob Thomson said that the Phillies would expect the reliever to work in the bullpen on Wednesday for the first of two anticipated side sessions before heading out on a rehab outing. … INF Edmundo Sosa was held out of the starting lineup on Monday after experiencing tightness in his calf heading back to the first base bag. He did pinch-hit in the ninth inning, striking out.

UP NEXT

The teams will meet in the second game of a three-game set on Tuesday night. Arizona will send RHP Ryne Nelson (1-2, 5.48 ERA) to the mound. The Phillies will go with a bullpen game, starting with reliever Matt Strahm (4-3, 2.73) and likely turning to the newly acquired Dylan Covey (0-0, 4.50 ERA) handling the bulk of the innings.

Jacob deGrom, oft-injured Rangers ace, to have season-ending right elbow surgery

Associated PressJun 6, 2023, 10:01 PM EDT
rangers degrom
Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a $185 million, five-year deal in free agency last winter hoping the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner could help them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and make a push toward winning a World Series.

They also knew the risks, with the pitcher coming off two injury-plagued seasons with the New York Mets.

Even with deGrom sidelined since late April, the AL West-leading Rangers are off to the best start in franchise history – but now will be without their prized acquisition until at least next year. The team said Tuesday that deGrom will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

“We’ve got a special group here and to not be able to be out there and help them win, that stinks,” deGrom said, pausing several times with tears in his eyes. “Wanting to be out there and helping the team, it’s a disappointment.”

General manager Chris Young said Tuesday the decision on surgery came after an MRI on deGrom’s ailing right elbow, but the extent of what is required might not be determined until the operation is performed next week.

Tommy John surgery, in which the damaged ligament is replaced, is often needed to fix a torn UCL, but Young and the Rangers didn’t go as far as saying the pitcher would have that particular procedure. After being drafted by the New York Mets in 2010, deGrom made six starts in the minors that summer before needing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2011, three years before his big league debut.

DeGrom last pitched April 28 against the New York Yankees, when he exited early because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. The announcement about surgery came a day after deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Young said the latest MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage in the ligament that wasn’t there on the scan after deGrom left the game against the Yankees.

“The results of that MRI show that we have not made progress. And in fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligament,” Young said. “It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob, for certainly the Rangers. But we do feel this is what is right for Jacob in his career. We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

Young and deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, said the goal is for the pitcher to return near the end of next season. Both said they were glad to have clarity on what was wrong with the elbow.

Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but the right-hander threw only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start before leaving because of discomfort in his arm.

The Rangers went into Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis with a 39-20 record, the first time they were 19 games over .500 since the end of 2016, their last winning season.

Before going home to Florida over the weekend for the birth of his third child, deGrom threw his fifth bullpen last Wednesday in Detroit.

“I’d have days where I’d feel really good, days where I didn’t feel great. So I was kind of riding a roller coaster there for a little bit,” deGrom said. “They said originally there, we just saw some inflammation. … Getting an MRI right after you pitch, I feel like anybody would have inflammation. So, you know, I was hoping that that would get out of there and I would be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

DeGrom spent his first nine big league seasons with the Mets, but was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts during his last two years in New York.

He had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings in 2021 before missing the final three months of the season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow.

The four-time All-Star didn’t make his first big league start last year until Aug. 2 after being shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.

His latest injury almost surely will trigger Texas’ conditional option on deGrom’s contract for 2028.

The option takes effect if deGrom has Tommy John surgery on his right elbow from 2023-26 or has any right elbow or shoulder injury that causes him to be on the IL for any period of 130 consecutive days during any season or 186 days in a row during any service period.

The conditional option would be for $20 million, $30 million or $37 million, depending on deGrom’s performance during the contract and health following the 2027 season.

“I feel bad for Jake. If I know Jake, he’ll have the surgery and come back and finish his career strong,” second-year Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I know how much it means to him. He enjoys pitching. It’s certainly sad news for all of us.”