Rangers Sign Hamels And Beat Yankees
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers snagged ace Cole Hamels and beat the New York Yankees.
Not a bad Wednesday night.
The Rangers’ 5-2 victory over the Yankees at Globe Life Park served as a mere backdrop to a blockbuster deal that landed Hamels. Word of the multiplayer trade began to circulate during the game and was widely reported by several media outlets.
Neither club confirmed the transaction, and Rangers officials declined comment after the game.
Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland, however, called Hamels a “great pitcher” before the clubhouse closed early.
“I watched the no-hitter the other day, too,” Moreland said, referring to Hamels’ outing Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. “It was pretty impressive. He’s got a long track record of great success. It’ll but huge for us.”
Hamels, signed through 2018, was acquired from Philadelphia with next season and beyond in mind for a club with fleeting playoff aspirations this season.
Texas (48-52) did snap a three-game losing skid behind solid outing from starter Colby Lewis and left fielder Josh Hamilton’s two RBI.
The American League East-leading Yankees (57-43) were coming off a 21-5 rout the
previous night, but their four-game winning streak ended. New York is 4-2 on its current 10-game road trip and would take three in the four-game series with Texas with a win Thursday night.
Lewis put in another solid showing in improving to 11-4. After a shaky first two innings, the veteran righty settled into a groove and went six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
“The first couple of innings I didn’t feel like I had a lot of stuff going,” Lewis said. “Kind of felt like I was feeling for a lot of pitches. I was able to get through those innings and establish the slider again and make some good pitches and get some quick outs.”
Texas closer Shawn Tolleson worked an uneventful ninth for his 18th save.
Hamilton, after a night off, was one of three Rangers with multiple hits and the only with multiple RBIs. He knocked in the team’s first and last runs.
“We took a good licking yesterday,” Hamilton said, “but came back today and didn’t let it get us down and played a good ballgame.”
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, working on an extra day of rest, went six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. He said the command wasn’t there.
“It’s not just the splitter,” said Tanaka (7-4). “It goes for pretty much all the pitches I was throwing today. I just didn’t have command of them.”
Unlike the fireworks of the night before, the first few innings were relatively tame. All the early scoring took place in the second, as both teams put up crooked numbers.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran put the Yankees on the board with a leadoff shot into the Texas bullpen in right. New York went up 2-0 on center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury’s single to center that scored red-hot shortstop Didi Gregorius.
The Rangers came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Hamilton, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo and center fielder Delino DeShields each had run-scoring singles off Tanaka.
Texas made it 4-2 in the fifth when third baseman Adrian Beltre scored on a double-play ball by Hamilton. It was the first double play the Rangers hit into in 10 games, ending the longest streak in the majors this season.
