Rangers celebrate unanticipated title

Texas players celebrate after the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-2 on Sunday to win the American League West Division title for the first time since 2011.
Texas players celebrate after the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-2 on Sunday to win the American League West Division title for the first time since 2011.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- First-year Manager Jeff Banister stood in a corner of the Texas Rangers clubhouse watching players celebrate, with champagne spraying all over the place.

A year after their 95 losses were the most in the American League, two months after they were still eight games out of first place and three days after ensuring themselves a postseason spot, the Rangers clinched the AL West title with a 9-2 victory over the Angels on the last day of the regular season.

"Incredible moment, emotional, one I'll never forget," Banister said. "They never quit."

Cole Hamels pitched a three-hitter, his first complete game since Texas acquired the ace left-hander from Philadelphia at the end of July, and team leader Adrian Beltre hit a go-ahead home run in the victory Sunday, which eliminated Los Angeles from playoff contention.

The Angels needed to win their finale and have Houston lose in Arizona to force a tiebreaker game for the AL's second wild card. The Astros lost, but already had clinched the wild card after Los Angeles lost.

Moments after the final out, in Texas an AL West championship banner was hanging beyond center field at the ballpark. A championship flag was hoisted on one of the six poles atop the massive video board in right field.

"This means a lot. I have never been on a team with as much heart," said shortstop Elvis Andrus, the Rangers' most-tenured position player and a member of their only World Series teams in 2010 and 2011. "This means a lot more than what we did a few years ago because of who these guys are. They have so much passion and energy. It has been a crazy year."

Texas, which lost ace Yu Darvish to Tommy John surgery before the season even started, plays its first AL division series game since 2011 starting Thursday at Toronto.

The Rangers clinched no worse than a wild card with their 5-3 victory in the opener of the four-game series Thursday night before the Angels, the 2014 division champs, won the next two games with ninth-inning rallies.

Texas gave up five runs in the ninth Saturday to lose 11-10 to the Angels as second-place Houston won its third consecutive game. According to Elias, Texas was the first MLB team to lose a potential league- or division-clinching game in the last week of the season after having a lead of at least four runs in the ninth inning.

Texas left no doubt in its 162nd game with a six-run seventh inning that included an infield RBI single by Beltre, who has driven in 33 runs his last 23 games, and a two-run double from Andrus.

"This game has a cruel sense of humor," Banister said. "From what happened yesterday, we got punched in the mouth. When that happens, you find out what you are made of, and you saw that in everything they did today."

Texas has won its last 10 games started by Hamels, traded from the Phillies right after he pitched a no-hitter. The 2008 World Series MVP is 7-1 with Texas and 13-8 overall this season.

The Rangers were eight games out of first place after an 11-inning loss to San Francisco on Aug. 1, when Hamels left with a three-run lead in the eighth inning of his Rangers debut.

Many viewed the acquisition of Hamels, who is signed through 2018 with a club option for 2019, as a move for future seasons. Instead, the Rangers reached the playoffs for the seventh time.

"I liked this team a lot," Hamels said. "We knew we could do something special."

Albert Pujols hit his 40th home run in the first to give the Angels a 2-0 lead, but Hamels allowed only one more hit, former Phillies teammate Shane Victorino's one-out double in the second.

"I felt comfortable and confident," said Hamels, who struck out eight with two walks. "I knew if I kept grinding it out, the team would score."

Texas went ahead to stay in the fifth on Beltre's 18th home run, which landed just beyond the wall in right field for a 3-2 lead against Garrett Richards (15-12), who started on three days' rest for the first time. That came after Shin-Soo Choo, who has reached base in 53 of the last 55 games, had an infield single.

The Angels used five pitchers and Texas scored six times during a seventh inning that last 37 minutes. Hamels stayed loose by throwing balls into a net in an area behind the dugout.

"What I normally do in the offseason when it snows outside," he said. "I start throwing against the wall."

The Astros are going to the playoffs for the first time in a decade despite ending the regular season with a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

The Astros led the AL wild-card race by a game heading into Sunday. They shared a few high fives in the dugout in the eighth inning after clinching it when the Angels lost to Texas.

Houston finished 86-76 to reach the postseason for the first time since playing the Chicago White Sox in the 2005 World Series. The Astros will play their first American League playoff game Tuesday night, against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Not bad for a team that had three 100-loss seasons before going 70-92 in 2014.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PIRATES 4, REDS 0 Host Pittsburgh clinched home field in the NL wild card game, winning behind J.A. Happ’s stellar outing and Pedro Alvarez’s long home run. The Pirates (98-64) locked up the right to host the Chicago Cubs (97-65) Wednesday night in a winner-takeall playoff with a victory on the final day of the regular season.

DODGERS 6, PADRES 3 Clayton Kershaw struck out seven in an abbreviated start to become the first pitcher in 13 years to reach 300 strikeouts, and NL West champion Los Angeles closed the regular season on a five-game winning streak. Kershaw allowed 2 hits and no walks on 60 pitches over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. The left-hander completed his final tune-up before the Dodgers open the NL Division Series against the New York Mets at home Friday.

CUBS 3, BREWERS 1 The visiting Cubs beat Milwaukee for their eighth consecutive victory, but will have to play the NL wild card game in Pittsburgh. Chicago ended the regular season with a three-game sweep in Milwaukee.

METS 1, NATIONALS 0 Jacob deGrom looked especially sharp in his abbreviated playoff tuneup, and NL East champion New York finally scored on Curtis Granderson’s eighth-inning home run.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ORIOLES 9, YANKEES 4 New York stumbled into home-field advantage in the AL wildcard game after a loss by Houston made the outcome of this one meaningless. New York will enter Tuesday’s winner-take-all game against the Astros with little positive momentum after being swept in three games by Baltimore and losing six of their final seven regular-season games. ROYALS 6, TWINS 1 Salvador Perez added to his career-best home run total, Johnny Cueto tossed five solid innings and Kansas City secured home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Perez hit his 21st home run in the third inning, one behind Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas for the team lead. Cueto (4-7 with Royals, 11-13 overall) allowed one run over five innings, helping the Royals finish on a five-game winning streak.

Sports on 10/05/2015

Upcoming Events