Astros clinch first playoff berth since 2005; Rangers win AL West

The Angels then strung together four consecutive two-out singles off Ross Ohlendorf (3-1). “Their bullpen is on fumes”.

The Angels just couldn’t get anything going in this one other than the first inning as they could only pound out three hits in this one against Hamels who pitched one of his best games as a member of the Rangers. Beltre, who has driven in 33 runs his last 23 games, had an RBI single and Andrus added a two-run double.

You can now make the argument that the Rangers acquiring Cole Hamels is as big as the Blue Jays acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price and the Mets acquiring Yoenis Cespedes. Lewis has a career-high 17 wins this season, and is the Rangers’ most successful postseason pitcher (4-1, 2.34 ERA in eight such starts).

Many viewed the acquisition of Hamels, who is signed through 2018 with a club option for 2019, as a move for future seasons.

Texas is back in the postseason for the first time since 2012, when it lost the inaugural American League Wild Card Game to the Orioles.

“They played hard, they played long, and for us to even be talking about a playoff opportunity the last week of the season had everything to do with the guys in that room”.

If the Astros lose and the Angels win on Sunday, they would be tied for the final Wild Card spot and play a one-game tiebreaker on Monday at Minute Maid Park, based on the Astros winning the season series between the teams (10-9). Tomorrow I will list my 2015 Major League Baseball post-season predictions.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – First-year manager Jeff Banister stood in a corner of the Texas Rangers clubhouse watching players celebrate, with champagne spraying all over the place.

Mike Trout and Albert Pujols gave the Los Angeles Angels an early lead in a playoff bid that improbably remained alive on the final day of the regular season.

Detroit finished with nine hits, including a homer by Bryan Holaday and two singles by Anthony Gose. “Playing guys two games today, to me, is risky in a situation like today, when it’s cold and wet and rainy”.

The win sets up an American League Division Series matchup against either Kansas City or Toronto.

The Rangers (86-72) took two of three in the series and reduced their magic number to two.

New York will enter Tuesday’s winner-take-all game against the Astros with little positive momentum after being swept in three games by Baltimore and losing six of their final seven regular-season games. “We’re not going to let anything else get us down”. Instead, the Rangers reached the playoffs for the seventh time.

So when they needed one more, after Garrett Richards had given the Angels six innings on 99 pitches on three days rest, Scioscia had few no easy choices to try to manage a 3-2 deficit.

Both starting pitchers gave up five runs and left in the fifth without recording an out. Hamilton has started five of the last eight games for Texas in right field since his return from left knee surgery on September 11.

Seven pitchers combined to hold Washington to two hits – the first was Clint Robinson’s two-out single in the seventh inning off reliever Jonathon Niese.