Rangers reaction explains that sad sound from the south

The Rangers kicked off a 10-game homestand Thursday with just about a perfect night.

They won a 9-0 shutout against the Cleveland Indians at Globe Life Park behind ace Cole Hamels, who has seldom looked better in a Rangers’ uniform. Carlos Gomez made a stirring entrance in his Rangers’ debut, all to the chagrin of Astros’ fans every where.

Plus, the Mariners lost to give the Rangers a  7 1/2 game lead in the American League West with 34 games remaining. It’s the third shutout this season for the Rangers and first at Globe Life Park.

Hey, and that Rangers’ run differential is looking much better if you’re into that sort of thing.

Three thoughts from the Rangers’ 9-0 win:

1. Hamels’ time — Even back in spring training and early in the regular season, Cole Hamels would periodically reference everything he did being aimed towards the stretch drive in August and September and into the postseason. For a pitcher with World Series accolades in his pocket, it always rang genuine. He showed it again Thursday night with arguably his most dominating performance with the Rangers. He held the Indians to two singles (separated by 19 consecutive outs), no walks and struck out over eight scoreless innings. It’s as if playing a first-place team and potential playoff opponent got Hamels’ juices flowing or something. Uh, of course it did.

“I know we’re playing some really good teams, especially at this time of year, these are big, important games,” said Hamels, who threw the longest scoreless outing by a Rangers’ pitchers since Colby Lewis on Sept. 11, 2015. “When you’re able to come home for that first game you want to set the tone. I think that’s kind of what we were really focused on was making sure we had the right plan. We just executed pitches.”

Hamels (14-4) didn’t walk a batter for the first time since July 17, a span of six starts.

“More than anything else, this is the time of year Cole really likes to pitch,” Banister said with a smile. “Not that he doesn’t like to pitch all year long but it’s a steady build up. Great pitchers, they get better as the year progresses. He seems to get stronger. I think he builds on every outing.”

2. What’s that sound? — Don’t be alarmed. Those wails of misery you hear wafting from the south are nothing to concern yourself with. It’s the collective bemoaning by an Astros’ fan base sighing and sobbing at the same time. It can’t be easy watching Carlos Gomez knock a three-run homer in his first at-bat for the Rangers. You see, just a short time ago (say, last August), Gomez was expected to boost an already talented and powerful Astros’ lineup after he was acquired in a trade with the Brewers. But Gomez never got going in Houston and the Astros finally had to sever ties on Aug. 10. The Rangers snatched him up, hoping their clubhouse chemistry could help rebuild Gomez into the two-time All-Star and former Gold Glove outfielder he once was with Milwaukee. It was his first homer since July 17 and snapped an 0 for 10 stretch, all with the Astros, of course. In the words of Fez, from That ‘70s Show: “That’s a burn.”

3. Rougie rising — Rougned Odor leads the Rangers with 24 homers. His solo shot in the eighth made it 9-0. He’s hit 23 of the homers as a second baseman, which breaks Bobby Doerr’s 1940 record for most homers in a season by a second baseman 22 years old or younger. To the few of you I sparred with during spring training over whether Odor would lead the team in homers, I’m starting to get nervous. My stance was always that it’s a bad sign for the Rangers if their second baseman led in homers with sluggers such as Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland and Adrian Beltre. Also include Ian Desmond in that picture and I believed it to be a long shot. With 34 games remaining in the regular season, four players, including Odor, have a shot at the team homer title. Beltre is second with 22 and Desmond and Moreland both have 21.

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Rangers reaction explains that sad sound from the south."