Hamels leads rollin’ Rangers past Yankees
New York — Cole Hamels breezed through seven shutout innings to win his fourth consecutive start, Adrian Beltre homered and drove in three runs, and the rolling Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees 7-1 on Tuesday night.
One night after Texas rallied to win at 2:44 a.m. following a 3 ½-hour rain delay in the ninth inning, the Rangers again played with plenty of spunk and energy. They've won four in a row and 12 of 14, improving the American League's top record to 5127 with their eighth straight victory away from home.
Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran left in the first with a tight right hamstring. He had an MRI that was “clean” and is day to day, manager Joe Girardi said.
Hamels (9-1) yielded six harmless singles and struck out seven, winning his ninth consecutive decision on the road dating to last August. He is 16-2 since getting traded from Philadelphia to Texas last summer and has already compiled excellent credentials for this year's All-Star Game, to be played two weeks from Tuesday in his San Diego hometown.
Hamels threw only 86 pitches and outdueled CC Sabathia (5-5) in a matchup of accomplished lefthanders.
Sabathia pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in a year, but that's where it all fell apart for him. Trailing 2-0, he nicked leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo on the hand with a pitch and was unable to corral Ian Desmond's comebacker, which went for an infield single.
Beltre's bad-hop RBI single got past third baseman Chase Headley, and Prince Fielder chased Sabathia with a run-scoring double that made it 4-0.
Pinch hitter Nomar Mazara, Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar each added an RBI single against Anthony Swarzak to cap a five-run outburst that broke the game open. Sabathia, who twice rolled his right ankle during his previous start, was charged with six runs and eight hits in seven-plus innings.
Beltre hit a two-run homer in the first to the short porch in right field. Desmond and Beltre both finished with three hits.
New York managed a run against reliever Jake Diekman in the eighth. Jacoby Ellsbury doubled and scored on Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly. Get back there Odor got a rare order in the eighth — he twice was told to get back in the on-deck circle by plate umpire Paul Nauert. Odor was near the backstop, drifting far from the dugout, as Mazara batted. Odor had a playful smile as he moved back to his proper place, and later hit an RBI single.
Bullpen shuffle
New York optioned RHP Kirby Yates to Triple-A and recalled RHP Conor Mullee for his second stint with the big club this season. Yates replaced closer Aroldis Chapman after the long delay Monday night and took the loss, hitting three batters with pitches in the ninth inning and giving up a pair of two-run singles (including the go-ahead hit by Beltre) as the Yankees squandered a 6-5 lead.
Trainer's room
Yankees: Beltran pulled a line drive into the left-field corner his first time up and broke well out of the batter's box. But he pulled up with a single after rounding first and went back to the bag even when the ball initially eluded left fielder Ryan Rua. Rob Refsnyder ran for Beltran and replaced him in right field as well.
Up next
Rangers RHP Nick Martinez (1-1, 5.54 ERA) faces RHP Masahiro Tanaka (5-2, 3.01) in the third game of the four-game series Wednesday night. The 25-year-old Martinez went to college in the Bronx at nearby Fordham and is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two starts at Yankee Stadium.