Cole Hamels has taken some really unfair heat from ignorant Rangers fans in his brief tenure with the team.
Hamels wasn't great in his first two starts with the club. He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't ace-like, either.
He is still yet to earn a win as a Ranger (and the win stat is pretty meaningless, anyway), but on Tuesday he had his best outing with the club.
In the Rangers' win over the Mariners, Hamels worked seven innings, allowing three runs and striking out eight batters, including four straight at one point. He also allowed seven hits and walked four, an uncharacteristically high number.
He pitched well enough to win, but there was a concerning aspect of his start.
Hamels had trouble holding leads. In fact, he was given a lead twice, and he blew it twice before ultimately leaving the game after seven innings in a 3-3 tie, thanks to a great throw from Shin-Soo Choo that kept the Mariners from taking the lead in the seventh inning.
Hamels hasn't been what many expected he'd be since his trade to Texas, but he's been better than a certain Cliff Lee was in his first few starts with the Rangers. The team acquired Hamels for the future, but the way things are going now could allow us to see if Hamels could do what Lee did for the Rangers in October. Time will tell, but we'll know soon enough.
