Jacob deGrom took the ball on his 38th birthday Friday night at Globe Life Field, and for three innings, the script was perfect. He retired the first seven batters he faced, struck out five, and looked every bit like the two-time Cy Young winner who has dominated the game for a decade. Then Ty France stepped in with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and hit a 98-mile-per-hour four-seam fastball into the left-field seats for a grand slam. France added a second home run later in the game, turning deGrom's birthday start into a nightmare and giving the Padres a 7-3 lead that the bullpen would eventually surrender in a wild back-and-forth game at Globe Life Field.
France Made deGrom Pay for One Mistake in a Dominant Night
deGrom entered the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead and everything working. His fastball was sitting at 98-99, his slider had generated four whiffs on six swings, and the Padres had managed just one baserunner through the first three frames. But the inning started with a single by Luis Arraez, followed by a walk to Manny Machado. A passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, and an intentional walk to Xander Bogaerts loaded the bases for Ty France, the Padres' first baseman who entered the game hitting .245 with 19 home runs on the season.
On a 2-2 count, deGrom went to his four-seamer at the top of the zone. France was sitting on it, turned on it, and sent it 402 feet into the left-field seats at 109 miles per hour off the bat. The grand slam gave the Padres a 4-2 lead and flipped the game completely. deGrom would not make it out of the fourth inning, allowing another run before being lifted. His final line: 3.2 innings, 4 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts. Not a birthday to remember.
France was not done. In the sixth inning, facing Rangers reliever Gerson Garabito, he crushed a solo home run to center field — his second of the night and 20th of the season. France became the first Padres first baseman since Wil Myers in 2021 to hit two home runs in a game at Globe Life Field, and his 7 RBIs on the night were a career high. For a player who has been quietly consistent without ever being a star, this was the kind of game that reminds everyone what he is capable of when he gets a pitch to drive.
The Padres Bullpen Could Not Hold It
The Padres led 7-3 after France's second home run, and that should have been enough. Tanner Scott worked a scoreless seventh, and San Diego took a four-run lead into the eighth inning. But the Rangers rallied against the Padres bullpen, scoring three runs in the eighth and pushing across the tying and winning runs in the ninth. The final score was 9-8 Rangers, and the Padres walked away with a loss despite France's career night.
The collapse took some of the shine off France's performance, but it does not change the individual story. Hitting a grand slam off Jacob deGrom on any night is an accomplishment. Doing it on deGrom's 38th birthday, in the stadium where the Rangers paid $185 million for a version of deGrom that has been brilliant when healthy, adds a layer of narrative that makes the moment unforgettable.
deGrom dropped to 5-5 with the loss, his ERA rising to 3.52 after allowing six earned runs in just 3.2 innings. It was his shortest start of the season and the first time he had allowed more than three earned runs in a game since April. The Rangers have to hope this is an outlier — a bad night against a hot hitter — rather than a sign that the 38-year-old is finally showing his age.
What This Means Going Forward
Ty France is not a household name outside of San Diego, but games like this are why the Padres traded for him last offseason. He provides right-handed power in a lineup that leans left and has been one of the more consistent run producers in the middle of the Padres order. His 20 home runs this season put him on pace for a career-high 30, and his .245 average is low mostly because of a slow April. Since May 1, he has hit .268 with 14 home runs and a .839 OPS.
For deGrom, the concern is less about the stuff and more about the command. He walked three batters in 3.2 innings, which is uncharacteristic for a pitcher who has always lived on the edges of the strike zone. The fastball velocity was there — he touched 99 in the first inning — but the command wavered as the outing progressed. At 38, the Rangers will watch his next start closely. If the command issues persist, it could be a sign that Father Time is finally catching up to one of the most talented pitchers of his generation.
Tyler Harlan
Tyler Harlan covers sports with an eye for rotations, trends, scheduling spots, and the game context that often gets overlooked.