ARLINGTON, Texas _ Anyone who wants to find how the Texas Rangers' starting rotation stacks up to the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball this month can direct their eyes to the bottom of the stats sheet.
Coming in dead last in September ERA is the group headed by Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. Actually, for September, Martin Perez has been the class of a rotation that entered Wednesday with a 6.50 ERA.
That includes starts by A.J. Griffin and Derek Holland, who are long shots to be in the October rotation. Remove them and count only the performances by Hamels, Darvish, Perez and Colby Lewis, and the ERA drops to 6.07.
Still not good. Not even close to good.
So uncertain had Rangers brass been about their starters that the idea of a three-man rotation for the playoffs was discussed, but Perez helped change their thinking with a resurgent streak that was halted Monday as he allowed eight runs.
But Hamels and Darvish are the starters to whom the Rangers have pinned their World Series hopes. They are 1 and 1a. Spahn and Sain. Johnson and Schilling.
Hamels was back at it Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, and allowed five runs (three earned) over seven innings in his final tune-up before the American League Division Series in an 8-5 victory that padded the Rangers' lead for home-field advantage in the postseason.
"It's nice to be able to pitch well enough to keep us in that ballgame," Hamels said. "You have to see what their plan of attack is. When you're playing against a ballclub that's in the situation they are in and you've got a lot of new faces trying to make a name for themselves, which is great, you just have to be able to judge it from there and make pitches."
Shaky early, Hamels finished with four straight scoreless innings to reach the 200-strikeout and 200-inning plateaus and 22 quality starts. He received no decision as the Rangers scored four times with two outs in the eighth, the tying run on an Elvis Andrus single and the next three on a Carlos Gomez home run.
The win, coupled with the Boston Red Sox's walk-off loss at Yankee Stadium, left the Rangers with a 1 {-game lead for the league's best record, which determines home-field advantage.
"We were all so excited in the dugout," catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. "We're still playing for something."
Hamels and Darvish gave everyone a boost last weekend, tossing seven scoreless innings apiece. Hamels never came close to matching that against the Brewers, who led 1-0 after the first pitch of the game and 2-0 before the Rangers took their swing.
Milwaukee scored two more in the second, though without hitting a ball hard and by benefiting from two defensive miscues behind Hamels. He yielded another run in the third, by which time the Brewers had collected seven hits between nine outs.
Hamels finished strong, though, allowing only one hit over the final four innings. He threw 73 of his 103 pitches for strikes and didn't walk a batter for only the fourth time in 32 starts.
"It's attacking hitters," Hamels said. "You can't stray away from guys who are swinging early. You just have to trust your stuff and know it's a game, it's going to be a battle. But that's what I've worked toward, to develop the type pitches I have and to know how to throw them and when to throw them in game situations."
Ultimately, Hamels' postseason history calms any Rangers nerves. The MVP of the 2008 National League Championship Series and World Series owns a 3.03 ERA in 15 postseason starts.
He had a 2.70 ERA in two ALDS starts last year against Toronto.
Darvish, meanwhile, has pitched only once in the postseason, allowing three runs (two earned) in 6 2/3 innings of the wild-card game in 2012 against Baltimore. That was his rookie season in the majors.
He hasn't been back, missing last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. The Rangers feel like that is behind Darvish after 17 starts this season, as does he, and he also believes he is better equipped for postseason pitching despite just the one start.
"I feel like I'm a better pitcher mechanically and also mentally," Darvish said.
His final tune-up is scheduled for Friday to open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rangers are off Thursday. Darvish said that he gained confidence last weekend in shutting down the Oakland A's, but not only because they have been his nemesis.
His mechanics were consistent and he gained a better feel for his many pitches. He threw his fastball at top velocity from the outset, rather than building to his peak velocity later in the game.
But he has never pitched on three days' rest in his career, and Hamels has never started a game on short rest. That was one of the main reasons the Rangers are leaning away from a three-man rotation.
Another is Perez, who had a streak of four straight quality starts snapped Monday. He has shown a better understanding of how to pitch and how to keep a bad break from snowballing into a big inning.
"He's playoff experienced, also," manager Jeff Banister said. "There's a lot of positives there."
He will start the season finale Sunday, and Lewis will go Saturday as he attempts to put together his first complete performance since coming off the disabled list earlier this month.
So far, though, Lewis is 0-3 with a 9.75 ERA.
But with Hamels and Darvish atop the rotation, the Rangers like their chances in the postseason.
"We've got a strong rotation," Perez said. "We've got experience, and we like to compete and fight. No matter what team we face, we just want to go out there and put up zeroes."
