Cole Hamels has put himself into the thick of the American League Cy Young Award discussion with a stellar second half. That continued on Thursday night, when the Rangers’ ace overpowered the Indians, and the offense was equally as potent, in a 9-0 victory in the opener of the four-game set between division leaders.
Over eight innings, Hamels baffled the AL Central-leading Tribe, which managed just a pair of singles and struck out eight times against the lefty. Backing Hamels’ strong outing were a pair of three-run home runs — one apiece for Carlos Gomez and Adrian Beltre off Indians starter Josh Tomlin. Gomez’s shot in the second came in his first at-bat with Texas, which signed him on Saturday.
“Especially at this time in the year, these are important games,” Hamels. “When you’re able to come home for that first game, you want to set the tone, and I think that’s what we were really focused on tonight. [The Indians] are a good hitting team. … You just want to try and get ahead.”
Dating back to the All-Star break, Hamels has turned in a 1.59 ERA with a .212 opponents’ batting average and 58 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings for the Rangers, who have a 7 1/2-game lead over Seattle in the AL West.
Tomlin was charged with eight runs (seven earned) in 4 1/3 innings and now has a 7.51 ERA across his past nine outings. Cleveland had its lead trimmed to 4 1/2 games over Detroit in the Central.
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