Rangers beat A’s to claim second straight AL West title

Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in a three-run seventh Friday to help the Texas Rangers clinched the American League West with the a 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Cole Hamels (15-5) was the winning pitcher in the clincher for a second straight year. He scattered six hits in seven scoreless innings, striking seven and walking two.

Kendall Graveman retired the first 18 Rangers batters before Carlos Gomez opened the seventh with an infield single. Ian Desmond followed with a single, sending Gomez to third, and Carlos Beltran’s high chopper allowed Gomez to score the game’s first run.

Beltre hit the next pitch over the left-field wall. The blast was his 31st of the season and gave him 100 RBIs.　

Hitting: The closest the Rangers came to a hit over the first six innings was a lineout to first base by Jonathan Lucroy as Kendall Graveman took a perfect game into the seventh. He didn’t leave the inning with so much as a shutout. ... Carlos Gomez started the seventh with an infield single, and he went to third as Ian Desmond followed with a single to right field. ... Gomez scored from third on a high chopper to first base by Carlos Beltran. ... Adrian Beltre was next, and he launched a two-run homer to left field. It was his 31st homer of the season, and it gave him 100 RBIs.　　

Pitching: Cole Hamels worked seven scoreless innings, but he got some help in the second inning. ... Chad Pinder doubled to right-center field with two outs, and Renato Nunez tried to score from first. Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor, though, executed a perfect relay home to nail Nunez and keep the game scoreless. ... Hamels allowed only four base runners over his final five innings. Twice the A’s had a runner reach second base with one out, but each time Hamels worked free. ... Matt Bush tossed a perfect eighth inning, and Sam Dyson nailed down the final three outs in the ninth.

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Rangers beat A’s to claim second straight AL West title."