BALTIMORE – When Jacob deGrom is at his best, the Texas Rangers believe he’s the best pitcher on the planet.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner certainly is looking like his old self.

DeGrom flirted with a perfect game through six innings and a no-hitter through seven Wednesday night in another dominating performance in his return from Tommy John surgery in June 2023.

He threw 89 pitches, getting pulled after giving up his only hit to Colton Cowser leading off the eighth. The Rangers finished off a 7-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles as deGrom tied his career-best streak of 13 straight starts giving up two or fewer earned runs.

“When you miss that much time, you miss this a lot,” deGrom said. “You got time to really think about what you’ve done in your career. The goal is to try to come back and be as good as I was before the surgery, so constantly trying to work on that and still working on things in between.”

He walked Jackson Holliday starting the seventh. Then he struck out Jordan Westburg and got Gunnar Henderson to fly out. DeGrom walked Ryan O’Hearn, putting two on and causing a mound visit, then got Gary Sánchez to ground into an inning-ending forceout.

Texas removed deGrom after he faced 24 batters. He had thrown 59 of 89 pitches for strikes

Manager Bruce Bochy said deGrom was throwing well and he planned to give him a chance to finish a no-hit bid. The Rangers have been limiting deGrom to around 80 pitches per game.

“First guy that got a hit that was far enough,” Bochy said. “We had a nice lead, and he’s so fun to watch. He really is. I’ve said this. I’m a fan when he’s pitching.”

Rangers catcher Jonah Heim said deGrom was throwing all four pitches for strikes, and all he had to do was call the pitches.

“That’s the best I’ve ever seen him since he came over here,” Heim said. “So really encouraging to see really proud of him for all the work he’s put in to get here.”

The Rangers certainly are getting the best of deGrom in his third season in Texas since of a $185 millionm five-year deal. He’s off to an 8-2 start and has started 16 games after being limited to three in 2024 and six in 2023.

Yes, deGrom wanted to finish off a no-hitter until a fastball wound up in the wrong spot for the only hit he allowed.

“It was just fun to be out there,” deGrom said.

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