Rangers clinch AL West behind Beltre, Hamels; Jeffress reinstated

The Texas Rangers are champions of the American League West for a second consecutive season, and their best player and best starting pitcher provided the clinching victory.

Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning after the Rangers went without a base runner over the first six innings, and Cole Hamels tossed seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory Friday over the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum.

The victory gave the Rangers 91 wins and eliminated the Seattle Mariners from contention. The Houston Astros lost earlier Friday and were eliminated.

It feels great. This is only the first step to what we want to accomplish and we look forward to the challenge,” Beltre said amid a subdued celebration. “We know not just getting to the playoffs is enough for us.

“We have a good enough team to go all the way, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The Rangers will head to the postseason for the eighth time in franchise history and the seventh time as division champions. They will play in an AL Division Series beginning Oct. 6.

They could go as the top seed or second seed and open at Globe Life Park, or as the third seed and start on the road, so there remains plenty to play for over their final eight games.

Beltre said Hamels “was unbelievable. He clinched last year for us and did it again today. Seven strong innings, he was throwing strikes, keeping the A’s off-balance.

“Hey, what can you say about our ace? He’s been huge and hopefully he can be the same way through the postseason.

Manager Jeff Banister said, “It’s been a long road. And last season obviously how it ended last year, a gut punch. Coming into the beginning of the year we never had any doubts in this clubhouse with any of these players. This is only Stage 1. There’s so much more that these guys want to accomplish.

Banister added. “I wish we could have done it in front of our own fans. It’s an incredible, surreal feeling, but again we got a lot left to play for the rest of this season to try to get home field for our fans.”

Banister said of skeptics: “It’s all the people outside that say these guys couldn’t get it done. That they were lucky group. We just asked him to play hard, focus every single day.”

Before the game, Jeremy Jeffress was grateful to be in Oakland.

The right-hander returned to the team after just more than three weeks in a treatment program prescribed to him following his late-August arrest for driving while intoxicated in Dallas.

Jeffress was reinstated by Major League Baseball from the restricted list, but the Rangers have no immediate plans for him to pitch in a game. While he was able to throw and work out each day while at a Houston treatment facility, he will need to throw for coaches before being considered for a game.

But the Rangers are convinced that Jeffress is in a good place emotionally after he had a private meeting with manager Jeff Banister and then addressed his teammates before facing the media.

Making the postseason roster is his goal after accepting treatment and getting his mind right. He’s confident he can find a balance.

“I’ve been down before, unfortunately,” Jeffress said. “It’s how you bounce back to see what you can really become. I’m really confident. I’ve been in the first. I’ve come out with just bumps and bruises, but I’ve made it back.

“I do want to be on the playoff roster. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But knowing that I got myself in a better state of mind, I’ll be OK with it if I’m not. Going forward I know there’s a next year. I’m still young. I’ve still got a lot of bullets left. I feel like I can help this team win a championship for sure.”

Jeffress was arrested on suspicion of DWI early Aug. 26 and was quickly placed on the restricted list by the Rangers. Major League Baseball chose to keep him there, and he entered a treatment program Aug. 30.

He will continue with daily treatment as he continues to recover.

General manager Jon Daniels and special assistant Roy Silver visited Jeffress last week during a series at Houston. Jeffress threw to Silver and said that he threw into a padded wall in a gymnasium and worked out every day during the program,.

“I was putting holes in that wall. I was beating the wall up,” Jeffress said. “My arm stayed loose. I kept the cobwebs out of there. I worked out every single day.”

The Rangers, though, will put him on a throwing program that could included a session of live batting practice before putting him in a game, Daniels said. Jeffress hopped on a mound as the Rangers took batting practice before playing the Oakland A’s with a chance to clinch the division for the second straight year.

He last threw in a game Aug. 23, and there is no guarantee that he will pitch before the season ends.

“I can’t answer that until was actually see him throw,” Banister said. “Throwing inside in a gym is a little different than throwing to a catcher. I don’t want to diminish that this is an extremely hard league to throw in. When you’ve been a while, it does take time to get ramped up.”

Jeffress received a round of applause from his teammates after addressing them. Banister said that Jeffress was accountable for his actions, explained where he was in his treatment and asked for their help.

Banister said that he served the Rangers well to have Jeffress back. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who came from Milwaukee along with Jeffress in the Aug. 1 trade for three prospects, was glad to see one of his oldest friends in the game.

“It was good to see him,” Lucroy said. “I’m glad he’s back with the team. I know he’s glad to be back in the clubhouse around his buddies and teammates, and just getting back to doing what he does best.”

Jeffress said that he’s ready.

“I made a mistake and I regret deeply from the bottom of my heart,” Jeffress said. “I just want to move forward from this. I’m still a sick man. I’m still working on my treatment. Coming from the program I was just in has made me a wiser person.

“Taking that time for myself is something that I very much needed. I was making emotional decisions and just living in the now. It’s definitely been a great help.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Rangers clinch AL West behind Beltre, Hamels; Jeffress reinstated."