‘To me, he was always Big Game Cole.’ Hamels’ gem in 2015 finale clinched AL West.
Editor’s note: The latest in a countdown of the most memorable moments in Globe Life Park history. The Texas Rangers will play their final game there Sept. 29 before moving into Globe Life Field next season.
The biggest deal at the July 31 trade deadline in 2015 involved two teams below .500, and the general thought was the Texas Rangers acquired left-hander Cole Hamels to help fuel a playoff push in 2016.
It did, but the eight-player deal with the Philadelphia Phillies also pushed the Rangers into contention over the final two months of the 2015 season and to the cusp of the American League West title in Game 161.
The Rangers led by four entering the ninth inning. Hamels was in the dugout looking like the starter for Game 1 of the division series. Surely, they wouldn’t blow their late lead and need Hamels for essentially a winner-take-all regular-season finale.
Right?
Not quite.
The Los Angeles Angels rallied to stun the Rangers in extra innings and put Hamels where he yearns to be — on the mound with everything on the line.
It was Oct. 4, 2015, and Hamels delivered an epic performance at Globe Life Park that sent the Rangers to their first West title since 2011.
“We were one up with one to play, and we didn’t want to play the next day,” former Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “There was a reason that we lined Cole up to pitch Game 162, that is to take the best shot that you can to win the division.”
The game didn’t start well for Hamels. He retired the game’s first two batters, but Mike Trout doubled and Albert Pujols homered as the Angels struck for two early two-out runs.
And that was all the Angels could get. Hamels allowed only one hit, a Shane Victorino double in the second inning, and two walks and a hit batsman the final eight innings.
“He ran the table on them, man, and kind of showed what being an elite pitcher is all about,” Maddux said. “He justified all the trades, and that’s the reason you get a guy like that. He produced in the big moment.”
The Rangers scored once in the first, took the lead in the fifth on a two-run homer by Adrian Beltre, and scored six times in the seventh inning to pull away to a 9-2 victory.
Hamels retired the final eight he faced and needed only 108 pitches for his first complete game with the Rangers. The outing furthered his reputation as a big-game pitcher.
“All I was thinking about was just trying to manage the game and trying to limit base runners and go as deep as I could possibly go,” Hamels said as the champagne flowed in the Rangers’ clubhouse. “This is why we train. This is what we do in the offseason and spring training. This is how I play the game of baseball. It’s to win and it’s to play into October and November.”
Hamels made 12 starts after the trade, and the Rangers won the final 10 of them. He went 7-1 with a 3.66 ERA and pitched no fewer than six innings in each start.
“He dominated,” left-hander Derek Holland said. “He had a lot of momentum, which was awesome, but to me he’s always been ‘Big Game Cole.’ He was lights out for us every time we needed him. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have made the playoffs.”
He pitched well in the division series against the Toronto Blue Jays, and was on the mound in the fretful Game 5 when the Rangers committed three seventh-inning errors that allowed the Blue Jays to win the series.
But the Rangers never would have made it that far if not for acquiring Hamels and what he did in Game 162.
“At that moment, it was all-in. It’s like you’re playing poker, and you throw in all your chips and give everything you have and have the luck on your side,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “Thank God was had Cole on our side as our ace in that moment, and he just took over.”
