Hamels sharp as Rangers win 1-0 duel from Royals
KANSAS CITY, MO. » Cole Hamels could have been frustrated or intimidated or annoyed by the effortless way Kansas City counterpart Danny Duffy was slicing up the Rangers lineup Saturday night.
Instead, he rather enjoyed it.
The quick innings allowed Hamels to get into a rhythm of his own, and the left-hander kept matching Duffy’s scoreless innings. It wasn’t long after Hamels departed that Texas finally broke through, with ShinSoo Choo flaring a lazy fly ball down the left-field line with one out in the ninth for a 1-0 victory — the Rangers’ 12th straight over the Royals.
“Duffy is a tremendous pitcher,” said Hamels, who scattered four hits and a walk with five strikeouts over 7.2 innings. “He was making good pitches, getting good outs, and it was up to me to go out and match him . ... It was kind of nice to be able to do that.”
Most of the game shook out just as expected: an entertaining duel between talented left-handers.
Hamels rolled in on a 13.1-inning scoreless streak and was 3-0 in three starts against the Royals since arriving in Texas. Duffy carried a shutout into the eighth when the teams met in April in Arlington, and he was amped up making his first home start since mid-May. CUBS 10, ORIOLES 3 » Making his first appearance at Camden Yards since he was traded by Baltimore four years ago, Jake Arrieta settled down after a wild start to hold the Orioles to four hits over 6.2 innings and lead Chicago to a win.
Addison Russell homered for the second straight game, and Albert Almora and Anthony Rizzo also went deep for Chicago, which hit eight homers in winning the first two games of the series. TWINS 4, ASTROS 2 » Brian Dozier homered and Eddie Rosario’s two-run double in the sixth inning lifted Minnesota over Houston. MARINERS 4, WHITE SOX 3 » Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager homered, and sloppy Seattle beat Chicago for its third straight victory.
Seattle committed three errors, and Felix Hernandez (5-3) plunked Jose Abreu twice and threw a wild pitch. But Cruz’s tworun shot off Anthony Swarzak (4-3) — just the second homer allowed by the reliever this season — made it 4-3 Mariners in the sixth, and their bullpen shut down the lowly White Sox the rest of the way. YANKEES 4, RED SOX 1 » Didi Gregorius lined a go-ahead single in the 16th inning and New York outlasted Boston in the longest game between the bitter rivals at Fenway Park since 1966.
Matt Holliday hit a tying home run off Boston closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth that cleared the Green Monster, and it took 5 hours, 50 minutes and 512 pitches to finish. That is, if it’s really over — the Red Sox put the game under protest after a bizarre play on the bases involving Holliday in the 11th. TIGERS 11, BLUE JAYS 1 » Michael Fulmer pitched eight strong innings and J.D. Martinez drove in five runs as Detroit went on to a victory over Toronto.
Nicholas Castellanos, Miguel Cabrera and Martinez homered for the Tigers. CARDINALS 4, PIRATES 0» Lance Lynn worked 6.1 innings and added a rare run-scoring double at the plate as St. Louis cooled off Pittsburgh. METS 9, ROCKIES 3 » Jay Bruce and pitcher Seth Lugo homered during an early barrage that sent New York past Colorado for the Mets’ second straight lopsided victory over the reeling Rockies out of the AllStar break. DODGERS 7, MARLINS 1 » Cody Bellinger became the first Dodgers rookie to hit for the cycle and Alex Wood became the first Dodgers pitcher in more than a century to win his first 11 decisions in a season, helping the NL West leaders beat e Miami for their eighth straight victory. NATIONALS 10, REDS 7 » Anthony Rendon hit his second career grand slam and added a two-run homer, and Washington overcame Scooter Gennett’s four-RBI night to hold on for a victory over Cincinnati.
Ryan Raburn homered to lead off the seventh, sparking a seven-run outburst capped by Rendon’s grand slam for his 18th homer of the season.