Rangers Sweep Astros
HOUSTON — Colby Lewis pitched magnificently on Friday night and passed the baton to Cesar Ramos who followed suit on Saturday night. Rangers ace Cole Hamels essentially ran the anchor leg on Sunday.
Hamels breezed through eight innings and capped a dominating weekend of starting pitching as the Texas Rangers completed a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 9-2 win at Minute Maid Park.
Hamels (5-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks while recording a season-high 11 strikeouts. He combined with Lewis and Ramos to surrender just two earned runs on 11 hits and three walks with 21 strikeouts over 21 innings as Texas (25-19) swept the Astros (17-28) for a second time in as many series this season.
Unlike on Friday and Saturday nights when they needed their bullpen to preserve small leads, the Rangers scored early and often enough to allow Hamels to coast. In what marked another substandard start for Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel (2-6), Texas posted five runs in the third inning to provide Hamels with the cushion he needed to cruise.
“I’ve been very fortunate with the runs,” Hamels said. “Earlier in my career, I wasn’t used to ever getting runs. To play for a team that has such an incredible offense, I know that I don’t have to really worry about
coming out of a game because of a lack of runs or giving up a run.”
After catcher Bobby Wilson and center fielder Ian Desmond recorded run-scoring hits off Keuchel, third baseman Adrian Beltre roped a two-run double to left field to double Texas’ 2-0 lead. Left fielder Nomar Mazara added an RBI single that scored Beltre and capped the outburst.
“It’s an approach that we talked about all winter long, (in) spring training,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said of Texas scoring seven runs with two outs. “When we get to those situations we’ve got to be a bully in the box and capitalize on those situations. Those are a backbreaker for a team when you continue to capitalize with two outs.
Keuchel had an opportunity to escape the third with only one run on his ledger, but Wilson scored ahead of the tag from catcher Jason Castro following an errant throw from right fielder George Springer on the Desmond two-out single. Wilson added an RBI single in the fourth before second baseman Hanser Alberto ripped an RBI single to left off Keuchel in the sixth inning following an 0-for-2 start at the plate.
Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner, dropped his fifth consecutive decision for his longest losing streak since 2012. He allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings and saw his ERA swell to 5.92 through 10 starts.
“Obviously there were a few pitches that got away from him a bit and you’ve got to give them credit, they hit the mistakes,” Castro said.
Mazara added a two-run, two-out homer to right off right-hander Pat Neshek in the seventh inning for the sixth homer of his rookie season.
Hamels retired the first seven batters before Castro reached on an Alberto error with one out in the third. Castro eventually scored on a Jose Altuve groundout.
Following a double by Astros center fielder Jake Marisnick in the third, Hamels didn’t allow another hit until Evan Gattis blasted a solo homer, his fourth, with two outs in the sixth inning. Hamels allowed three additional singles but was relatively unchallenged after getting the lead.
“Once he got the five-run cushion then it’s a whole new animal that you’re tackling when it comes to an elite pitcher like that,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Then he started coming right at us with fastballs. Just pounding the zone. And if you swing early he lasts deep into the game like we saw. You wait him out, he wasn’t throwing balls.”
The Rangers have won 14 of 16 their past games against Houston.
