Hamels delivers gem as Rangers sweep Mariners
Cole Hamels took a shutout into the seventh inning Thursday night, and Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo connected for solo homers as the Texas Rangers completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 4-2 victory.
Carlos Gomez was credited with a two-out double in the first inning on a one-hop smash that caromed off Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager. Hamels (11-4) took that lead and didn’t relinquish it, as he allowed one run on three hits in eight innings and struck out a season-high eight.
Beltre’s homer in the sixth was his first since coming off the disabled list last week. Choo hit his 20th homer of the season a night after he was robbed of a grand slam.
How Rangers hitters fared: They did enough to win, and that’s good enough these days. ... They had four of their seven hits in the first inning, and the fourth was a Carlos Gomez one-hopper that hit off Kyle Seager and turned into a two-out two-run double. ... Adrian Beltre connected for his 17th homer of the season to open the sixth, and Shin-Soo Choo hit No. 20 with two outs in the seventh.
How Rangers pitchers fared: It was a big game, so it shouldn’t be a shock that Cole Hamels showed up. ... The left-hander allowed only three hits in eight innings, one of which was a solo homer by Nelson Cruz. ... Hamels didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the third, and Cruz’s homer came with one out in the seventh. ... Hamels walked two and struck out a season-high eight. ... Keone Kela allowed a one-out solo homer to Robinson Cano in the ninth, but registered his second save of the season.
Jeff Wilson: 817-390-7760, @JeffWilson_FWST
AL wild-card standings
Team | Games back |
x-NY Yankees | +6.5 |
x-Minnesota | — |
Texas | 2.5 |
LA Angels | 2.5 |
Kansas City | 3.5 |
Seattle | 5 |
Tampa Bay | 5 |
Baltimore | 5.5 |
Note: Top two teams, marked with x, would make the playoffs if season ended today.
Texas | 200 | 001 | 100 | — | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Seattle | 000 | 000 | 101 | — | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Texas AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
DeShields lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .275 |
Choo rf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .264 |
Andrus ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .301 |
Beltre dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .314 |
Gallo 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .208 |
Gomez cf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .256 |
Chirinos c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .257 |
Odor 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .208 |
Middlebrooks 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .185 |
Totals 35 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 13 | ||
Seattle AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Segura ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .298 |
Haniger rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 |
Cano 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .284 |
Cruz dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
Seager 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .251 |
Valencia 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 |
Zunino c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .246 |
Heredia cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .255 |
Gamel lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .278 |
Totals 30 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
E—Seager (14). LOB—Texas 6, Seattle 3. 2B—Gomez (22). HR—Beltre (17), off Altavilla; Choo (20), off Pagan; Cruz (35), off Hamels; Cano (22), off Kela. RBIs—Choo (75), Beltre (70), Gomez 2 (51), Cano (93), Cruz (112). CS—Segura (8). Runners left in scoring position—Texas 4 (Beltre, Chirinos 2, Middlebrooks); Seattle 1 (Zunino). RISP—Texas 2 for 6; Seattle 0 for 2. Runners moved up—Seager.
Texas | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
Hamels, W 11-4 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 108 | 3.80 |
Kela, S 2-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2.95 |
Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
Paxton, L 12-5 | 3 2/3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 73 | 3.03 |
Altavilla | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 4.43 |
Rzepczynski | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.77 |
Pagan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 3.52 |
Garton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 5.60 |
Inherited runners-scored—Altavilla 1-0, Rzepczynski 1-0. WP—Altavilla. PB—Zunino (10). Umpires—Home, Will Little; First, Tim Timmons; Second, James Hoye; Third, Jeff Kellogg. T—2:45. A—14,849 (47,476).
This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 11:55 PM with the headline "Hamels delivers gem as Rangers sweep Mariners."