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 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.

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 to get his 102nd career win.

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

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.