ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom left Thursday night’s start against the Los Angeles Angels after two innings because of right triceps fatigue and will undergo an MRI on Friday.
“I’m not too concerned,” deGrom said following a 7-0 loss to the Angels. “I mean, hopefully I’ll make my next (start). We’ll see. It was tight in the second inning, and it just didn’t want to loosen up,
so I don’t know, I haven’t really had this before.”
The 38-year-old right-hander, who has been dealing with a left hip and glute injury since the All-Star break, escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the first but gave up two runs and five hits during a 32-pitch second. He was replaced by right-hander Peyton Gray to begin the third with the Angels leading 2-0.
It was the first time deGrom permitted five hits in an inning since Sept. 5, 2017, with the New York Mets.
“I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard (it was) the triceps,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Obviously, you don’t want to hear anything arm-related. You pull a guy out in the second inning, it’s concerning. But we’ll figure it out when he gets some imaging. We won’t know until they get in there.”
This seven-game road trip began with the Rangers placing pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list because of elbow inflammation Monday. Texas beat the Angels 4-1 that night but lost the next three games to fall to 60-62 and two games behind first-place Houston in the AL West.
Now, the Rangers might have to navigate the next few weeks without their two best starting pitchers.
“Our starting pitching has taken a hit, that is reality,” Schumaker said. “With two guys going down, we’ll see what it looks like, but it’s never easy when you’re No. 1 and No. 2 guys are down.”
A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom allowed six hits, struck out three and walked one. He needs two strikeouts to become the ninth active pitcher and 94th in major league history to reach 2,000.
In three starts against the Angels this season, deGrom has yielded 10 earned runs in 10 innings.
“It was very disappointing,” he said of Thursday night's start. “I needed to go out there and give us some length and wasn’t able to do it. I said I could probably keep going, and they said, ‘Well, we’re not going to risk this right now,’ so we’ll just see how it is tomorrow and I’ll go from there.”
One of baseball’s best pitchers when healthy, deGrom made at least 31 starts per season and pitched to a 2.53 ERA across 622 1/3 innings from 2017-19 with the Mets.
He won NL Cy Young Awards with New York in 2018 and 2019 and led the National League with 255 strikeouts in 2019 and 104 strikeouts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
But deGrom made only 35 starts because of injuries from 2021-24 and underwent his second Tommy John surgery in June 2023, which sidelined him for much of his first two seasons with Texas in 2023 and 2024.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob Degrom (48) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob Degrom (48) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage beat trash-can wearing comic candidate Count Binface on Friday, regaining a seat in Parliament he quit a month ago to trigger the widely mocked special election.
Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party who some see as a possible next prime minister, abruptly quit his seat in July amid an investigation into whether he failed to report a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift from a crypto billionaire overseas.
He said he would run for the open seat to prove he had voters’ support, and regain it with 63% of the vote. Binface, who finished in second, won about 27%. The election, held on the hottest day of the year so far, had turnout of 44%.
Binface, a serial candidate who has challenged prime ministers past and present, became the default challenger in a field of 34 candidates after the major parties boycotted the campaign as a political stunt by Farage.
Farage declared victory in the early morning and did not attend the official declaration where he would have had to stand alongside the other candidates, many of them running joke campaigns.
Farage said he didn’t attend because police told him about an “organized campaign to disrupt and degrade the result.” A spokesperson for Reform said there was a “credible threat” against him, though police disputed that.
“We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count,” an Essex police spokesperson said.
Binface ran on a wacky platform that included a vow to “cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s,” build one affordable home and nationalize singer Adele.
The victory by Farage showed his strong support in the Clacton area on the east coast of England but it doesn’t ensure he’ll be able to keep the seat.
An investigation by a parliamentary watchdog that was suspended when he stepped down is likely to resume and could still lead to Farage being forced out of parliament to face yet another election.
Parliament’s standards watchdog is investigating an undeclared donation to Farage in 2024 from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Farage says he didn’t need to declare the money because it was a personal gift he used to fund his security and came before he was elected.
However, newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) received in the previous year if they are related to political activities.
When he stood down on July 7, he described the scrutiny as an “establishment hit job” and a media-driven “witch-hunt.”
Farage, who was a major player in getting Britain to vote to leave the European Union a decade ago, has had strong polling nationally though his numbers have slipped during months of scrutiny of his finances.
Farage’s gambit to resign and run again backfired when other parties refused to play ball and he was left facing a massive field of independent and small-party candidates, including novelty acts such as Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party.
Binface, who was first to declare and already a running joke in British elections, drew the most attention because of his satirical spin on politics and persona as a space alien from the planet Sigma IX.
His vote percentage was his best result yet in eight elections. By winning at least 5% of the vote, he's earned a refund of the deposit of 500 pounds ($675) candidate pay to run.
Under the black cape, trash can helmet and ample body armor straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film, Binface’s alter-ego is Jon Harvey, a middle-aged comedian who has spent much of the campaign trying to keep his cool during a sweltering summer.
He said his repeated candidacies were aimed at promoting the beauty of Britain’s centuries-old democracy where even the most high-profile politicians are above no one — including someone from outer space.
Ballot papers sorted for Farage and Binface are collected in boxes during the Clacton by-election count at the Leisure Centre in Clacton on Sea, England, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Ballot papers sorted for Farage and Binface are collected in boxes during the Clacton by-election count at the Leisure Centre in Clacton on Sea, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Count Binface, center, stands among other candidates during the result announcement after the Clacton by-election count at the Leisure Centre in Clacton on Sea, England, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Count Binface, center, stands among other candidates during the result announcement after the Clacton by-election count at the Leisure Centre in Clacton on Sea, England, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
Britain's Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage arrives at a polling station in Walton on the Naze, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026 to cast his vote for the Clacton on Sea by-election.(AP Photo/Richard Pelham)
