Cole Hamels had one of his worst outings as a Ranger on Thursday night, but it ended up not mattering.
The Rangers lefty lasted just 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits over the course of 106 laborious pitches. He left the game with a 3-1 deficit before Tom Wilhelmsen got him out of a two-on, one-out jam and his bats scored five runs in the bottom of the inning. The rest was history.
And that was it, the Rangers had won another game in which Hamels was the starting pitcher. It was his third start of the year — all Rangers wins — and dating back to 2015, the Rangers won his final 10 starts of the regular season before going 1-1 in his postseason starts.
Something about having an ace on the mound can bring the best out of an entire team, and that's obviously the case with the Rangers and Hamels.
