Rangers Win AL West
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers put their personal victory cigar on the mound in the biggest game of the season Sunday at Globe Life Park.
Cole Hamels didn’t disappoint.
The veteran left-hander pitched a complete-game three-hitter, and Texas clinched the American League West title with a 9-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
With its first division title since 2011, Texas heads to Toronto, where it will begin the American League Division Series against the Blue Jays on Thursday. The result eliminated the Angels from playoff contention.
The Rangers will do so knowing they have an ace in Hamels (7-1), who didn’t allow a hit after the second inning and struck out eight. Texas won each of the past 10 games started by Hamels, none bigger than Sunday.
“All I was thinking about was trying to manage the game and limit baserunners and go as deep as I could go,” Hamels said. “I knew we were going to score runs. It was just a matter of time.”
The time came in the seventh inning with the Rangers leading 3-2. Texas sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored six runs as the Angels were forced to use five relievers to get through the 37-minute half-inning.
Five consecutive Rangers hitters picked up RBIs. The surge started with a bases-loaded walk from
designated hitter Prince Fielder and ended when shortstop Elvis Andrus ripped a two-run double to left.
“We had a good opportunity that inning, and everybody was focused on great at-bats,” said right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who walked and scored in the seventh. “That was what we needed to do. We know Cole Hamels. He told everybody, and he showed why he’s a great pitcher in the league.”
One day after the Rangers couldn’t hold a four-run lead in the ninth inning, they didn’t have that problem with Hamels on the mound. The last hit the Angels had against him was a one-out double by left fielder Shane Victorino in the second.
Hamels, who collected his second complete game of the season, retired 23 of the final 26 batters he faced. He threw 108 pitches one day after the Rangers had to use eight relievers in their 11-10 loss.
“That’s why he is an ace,” said Los Angeles center fielder Mike Trout, who doubled off Hamels and came around to score on designated hitter Albert Pujols’ homer in the first. “He’s pitched in big games before, knows how to handle himself. We scratched some runs against him early and just fell short.”
The Rangers had a bullpen plan constructed in case Hamels struggled. Luckily for them, they didn’t need it.
“This game has a cruel sense of humor,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “From what happened yesterday, we got punched in the mouth. When that happens, you find out what you are made of, and you saw that in everything they did today.”
Hamels didn’t get off to a good start. He allowed a two-out, two-run homer to Pujols in the first as the Angels staked right-hander Garrett Richards (15-12) to a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers got one of the runs back on the bottom of the first against Richards, who was pitching on three days’ rest. However, Richards then kept Texas off the board until the fifth, when third baseman Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer to right that just cleared the wall.
Richards allowed three runs on six hits in his six innings. He struck out six and walked two. He pitched well, but the Angels couldn’t solve Hamels, and they fell a game shy of forcing a play-in game against Houston for the second AL wild-card spot.
“Nobody in that room has anything to hang their head about,” Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. “Nobody does. Those guys got us back into this, almost got us to get our foot in the door. We didn’t get it done. They came back and beat us. That’s it.”
