Rangers 5, Yankees 2
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers picked up two wins Wednesday night, with the bigger one coming off the field.
The Rangers' 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees served as a mere backdrop to a blockbuster deal landing Philadelphia ace Cole Hamels. Word of the multiplayer trade began to circulate during the game and was widely reported by several media outlets.
Hamels, signed through 2018, was acquired with next season and beyond in mind for a club with playoff aspirations this season.
Texas (48-52) snapped a three-game skid behind solid outing from starter Colby Lewis and left fielder Josh Hamilton's two RBIs.
The Yankees (57-43) were coming off a 21-5 rout the previous night but had their four-game winning streak end. New York is still 4-2 on its current 10-game road trip and would take three in the four-game series with Texas with a win on Thursday night.
Lewis put in another solid showing in improving to 11-4. After a shaky first two innings, the veteran righty settled into a groove and went six innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
Texas closer Shawn Tolleson worked an uneventful ninth for his 18th save.
Hamilton, after a night off, was one of three Rangers with multiple hits and the only with multiple runs driven in. His sharp single in the seventh put Texas up by the eventual final score.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, working on an extra day of rest, went six innings and gave up four runs and nine hits in falling to 7-4.
Unlike the fireworks the night before, the first few innings were relatively tame. All the early scoring took place in the second, as both teams put up crooked numbers.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran put the Yankees on the board with a leadoff shot into the Texas bullpen in right. New York went up 2-0 against Lewis on center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's single to center that scored red-hot shortstop Didi Gregorius.
The Rangers came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Hamilton, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo and center fielder Delino DeShields each had run-scoring singles off Tanaka.
Texas went up 4-2 in the fifth when third baseman Adrian Beltre scored on a double-play ball by Hamilton. It was the first double play the Rangers hit into in 10 games, ending the longest streak in the majors this season.
NOTES: Texas recalled LHP Alex Claudio and RHP Jon Edwards from Triple-A Round Rock, optioned RHP Phil Klein to Round Rock and designated LHP Wandy Rodriguez for assignment. ... The Yankees designated LHP Chris Capuano for assignment and called up RHP Caleb Cotham from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... On Tuesday, the Yankees became the first team in major league history to score at least 21 consecutive runs after allowing the first five (or more) runs in a game. ... In the last 11 years, a team scored at least 21 runs seven times. Either the Rangers or the Yankees were involved in six of those games.