Cole Hamels had his best start as a member of the Rangers last night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball as part of a 4-1 victory over the Orioles. That’s the sort of ace performance they had in mind when they acquired him from the Phillies last month.
Hamels walked four batters, including one with the bases loaded, but he held the Orioles to just two hits while notching 10 strikeouts. The southpaw retired 14 batters in a row at one point. Shawn Tolleson tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his 27th save of the season while Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Gimenez each hit solo home runs.
Hamels owns a 3.69 ERA and 33/15 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 innings over five starts since joining Texas.
At 66-61, the Rangers are currently a half-game (one up in the loss column) over the Twins for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. The Orioles have lost eight out of nine to fall 3 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race.
Your Friday box scores and AP recaps:
Red Sox 6, Mets 4 (10 innings)