Jacob deGrom makes strikeout history against familiar foe

Jacob deGrom still has his fastball at 38 years old. The Rangers ace struck out the first two batters of his start on Thursday, then tipped his hat to the crowd after becoming the 95th pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,000 strikeouts. He reached the milestone against the Nationals, whom he’s struck out more than all but two other teams, facing them a plethora of times during his time with the Mets. The historic punchout came in deGrom’s 272nd game and 1,661st inning pitched. He’s the second-fastest pitcher by both metrics to reach the milestone, trailing Randy Johnson (262 games) and Chris Sale (1,626 innings pitched). Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom acknowledges cheers from fans after striking out Washington Nationals’ Abimelec Ortiz to earn his 2,000th career strikeout in the first in