ARLINGTON, Texas _ Cole Hamels pitched one of his most dominant games with the Rangers and Carlos Gomez made a big first impression as the Rangers opened a four-game set against the Indians with a 9-0 win Thursday night at Globe Life Park.
Hamels allowed a two-out single in the first and then retired the next 19 Indians in a row. He held Cleveland to two hits and no walks and struck out eight in eight innings.
The eight scoreless innings for Hamels is the longest for a Rangers' pitcher since Colby Lewis on Sept. 11, 2015 against the A's. Tony Barnette pitched a scoreless ninth.
Gomez's three-run homer in the second inning gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead. It was Gomez's first at-bat for the Rangers. The Rangers scored five more times in the fifth to lead, 8-0. Texas had four hits in the inning, including a three-run homer by Adrian Beltre. Indians' first baseman Mike Napoli made two errors in the inning. Rougned Odor made it 9-0 with a solo homer in the eighth. The Rangers had eight hits in the game to the Indians' two.
