Rangers Rout Indians
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers turned to their ace to set the tone to start a pivotal 10-game homestand and Cole Hamels did not disappoint.
The Texas left-hander allowed just two singles in eight innings as the Rangers blanked Cleveland 9-0 Thursday night in the first of a four-game series.
Hamels (14-4) struck out eight, retired 19-straight Indians at one point and needed just 102 pitches to get through his eight innings.
It was exactly the kind of outing the Cy Young candidate wanted.
“When you’re able to come home for that first game you want to set the tone,” said Hamels, who was the first Texas pitcher to go at least eight shutout innings since Colby Lewis had a complete game shutout last Sept. 11 “I think that’s kind of what we were really focused on was making sure we had the right plan. We just executed pitches. They (the Indians) are a good hitting team. A lot of those guys have been hot recently. You don’t want to work you too deep into the count.”
Hamels didn’t have to worry about deep counts. He gave up a soft two-out single to Francisco Lindor in the first inning and didn’t allow another hit until Carlos Santana singled to open the eighth inning.
By that time, Texas had jumped on Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (11-8) for eight runs.
Outfielder Carlos Gomez, who had his contract purchased by the Rangers earlier Thursday, made the most of his first start as he slammed a three-run homer of Gomez in the second inning for his
lone hit of the night. With the way Hamels was pitching, that was enough.
“I just tried to take the first pitch and drive the first pitch,” said Gomez. “I’m really excited tonight. To have the opportunity, the first home run of my career that I feel that I want to cry. So it’s really good. To start like that is a good game. I can’t wait to get here tomorrow. More important, we got that big win, Hamels threw unbelievable today. We have to keep that up and continue to win games.”
Texas blew the game open against Tomlin in the fifth inning, scoring five times. An RBI single from Ian Desmond and a fielder’s chose RBI by Carlos Beltran pushed the Texas lead to 5-0.
Third baseman Adrian Beltre then belted a three-run homer to left-center. Tomlin was charged with eight runs (seven earned) in 4 1/3 innings as he walked two and struck out five.
While the Rangers were rolling, the Indians continued to struggle offensively. The leaders in the American League West have scored just three runs over the last four games. Against Hamels, they didn’t really have a chance as only four balls got out of the infield against the Texas ace and the Indians didn’t get a runner to third base until there were two outs in the ninth inning.
“He’s (Hamels) got the whole thing,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “He’s got a fastball, he can cut it, a great changeup. He had everything working tonight, and you give him a lead, he knows what to do with it'”
That wasn’t the case for Tomlin, who lost his fifth-straight start and didn’t give the Indians a chance opposite Hamels.
“My job is to give us a chance to win, and right now I’m not doing my job,” Tomlin said.
