DeGrom has 9 Ks to win on his 38th birthday as Rangers get wild 9-7 victory over Padres

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jacob deGrom struck out nine over six innings to win on his 38th birthday, even after giving up a grand slam to Ty France in the first, and the Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres 9-7 in a wild series opener Friday night.

There were only two umpires on the field for the top of the first when the Padres jumped ahead 5-0 on the slam by France, the first of his two homers in the game. By the time deGrom (6-4) returned to the mound for the second, he had a 6-5 lead.

France homered again leading off the fourth to tie the score at 6, but the Rangers went ahead to stay in the bottom half when Wyatt Langford hit an RBI double. He was thrown out trying for a triple on the hit that chased starter Randy Vásquez (6-5).

Langford also homered leading off the eighth.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom retired 16 of the last 19 batters he faced, even with an intentional walk, and finished with a season-high 106 pitches (70 strikes) to get his 102nd career win. The only hits in that closing span were France's second homer and his double in the sixth.

Jacob Latz got four outs for his 13th save in 15 chances.

The six-run Texas first included consecutive two-run doubles by Alejandro Osuna and Jake Burger before No. 9 batter Elias Díaz had the go-ahead RBI single.

That came after the Rangers allowed multiple runs in the first inning for the fourth game in a row — all at home. They were just swept by Minnesota, which never trailed in that three-game series.

Gavin Sheets drove in the first San Diego run with a single. He added a solo homer in the eighth.

Because of travel issues, Emil Jimenez and John Bacon were the only umps who made it in time for first pitch. Gabe Morales and Mike Muchlinski joined them on the field in the middle of the first inning.

Walker Buehler (4-3, 4.14 ERA) starts for San Diego on Saturday, and Nathan Eovaldi (6-7, 4.23) goes for Texas. Both pitched in the 18-inning Game 3 of the 2018 World Series that the Dodgers won 3-2. Buehler started for Los Angeles, and Eovaldi was the ninth Boston pitcher, throwing the last six innings.

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This story has been corrected to show that Texas had consecutive two-run doubles, not two-out doubles, in the first inning.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb