AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 9, INDIANS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Cole Hamels was masterful on the mound for the AL-best Texas Rangers, and Carlos Gomez provided a big blast in his debut with a fresh start.
Hamels allowed only two singles over eight innings for his 14th victory and Gomez hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat as the Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians 9-0 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series matching division leaders.
"You can always tell the passion he has in the game. ... It's nice to be able to have him on this side because he's a tremendous asset," Hamels said of Gomez. "It's going to be dramatic in our lineup."
Hamels (14-4) struck out eight without a walk and retired 19 consecutive batters after Francisco Lindor's solid two-out single to left in the first. The only other baserunner for the Indians against the lefty was Carlos Santana after a leadoff hit in the eighth, though he was stranded at second after advancing on a passed ball.
"He's got the whole thing. He's got a fastball, he can cut it, a great changeup," Indians Manager Terry Francona said. "He had everything working tonight, and you give him a lead, he knows what to do with it."
Gomez hit a drive deep into the seats in left field for a 3-0 lead in the second. Adrian Beltre added his own three-run home run in the fifth.
"The first home run of my career that I feel that I want to cry," Gomez said.
Gomez made his Rangers debut five days after signing a minor league deal with the team and playing three games at Class AAA Round Rock. The 30-year-old two-time All-Star outfielder hit .210 with 5 home runs in 85 games this season with the Houston Astros before being designated for assignment and then last week given his unconditional release.
"He's hungry, he wants to prove to the baseball world that he's still a very relevant player in this game, kind of a perfect storm for a guy that got a little discombobulated," Manager Jeff Banister said. "But an instant impact. He can do this type of stuff."
Rougned Odor also homered for the Rangers (75-53), who had their matched their largest winning margin of the season.
The AL Central-leading Indians (72-54) were shut out for the fourth time this season, and that came after being held to exactly one run in each of their three games at Oakland earlier this week.
Josh Tomlin (11-8) lost his fifth consecutive start in August and has a 10.80 ERA in those games. This was the fourth time in that stretch the right-handed Texas native didn't make it out of the fifth, allowing 8 runs and 6 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Hamels improved to 21-5 in his 38 starts since the Rangers acquired him last season when he was coming off a no-hitter in his last start for the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the longest scoreless outing for a Texas starter this season.
"You have to stick to your game plan, but at the same time you have to have some sort of surprise just so they can't sit on certain pitches," Hamels said. "That's kind of been the main focus this whole year, is really be able to execute all four or five pitches I throw, both sides of the zone, not really stray away or be afraid to try something new. That's what we were able to do."
TIGERS 8, TWINS 5 James McCann (Arkansas Razorbacks) had a three-run home run among his four hits, Daniel Norris pitched into the seventh inning and visiting Detroit completed a sweep of Minnesota for the Twins' seventh consecutive defeat.
RAYS 2, RED SOX 1 Enny Romero earned his first major league save, relieving with two outs in the ninth inning and fanning Boston slugger David Ortiz to give host Tampa Bay a victory and a four-game split with the Red Sox.
ANGELS 6, BLUE JAYS 3 Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark for the 13th time, the fifth player in history to achieve the feat; Mike Trout had three hits and drove in four runs; and visiting Los Angeles beat Toronto.
WHITE SOX 7, MARINERS 6 Todd Frazier tied it with an RBI single in the seventh inning and won it with a line drive down the left-field line in the ninth to lift host Chicago to a victory over Seattle.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 10, CARDINALS 6 Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright lost his glove trying to tag out Yoenis Cespedes and lost the game, too, when Alejandro De Aza homered and drove in five runs to send New York over host St. Louis.
PIRATES 3, BREWERS 2 (10) Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and a pair of RBI singles, including the tiebreaker in the 10th inning, as visiting Pittsburgh stopped a nine-game skid at Miller Park, beating Milwaukee.
INTERLEAGUE
NATIONALS 4, ORIOLES 0 Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings and Bryce Harper's two-run double helped host Washington avoid a four-game home-and-home sweep with a victory over Baltimore.
Sports on 08/26/2016