Cole gets 20th win, tops AL in ERA, Ks as Astros beat Angels
BY JILL PAINTER LOPEZ
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) _ Gerrit Cole earned his career-high 20th win, added to his major league-leading strikeout total and finished the best ERA in the AL, wrapping up a dominant season for himself and the Houston Astros with an 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Cole (20-5) posted his franchise-record 16th straight win as the Astros wound up with the top record in the majors at 107-55 and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. They begin the playoffs Friday at home against the winner of the wild-card game between Tampa Bay and Oakland.
George Springer, Aledmys Diaz and Yuli Gurriel all homered to boost Houston.
In his last outing before the postseason, Cole allowed one earned run over five innings and struck out 10, lowering his ERA to 2.50. He fanned 326 in 213 1/3 innings, the most strikeouts in a season since Randy Johnson had 334 in 2002 for Arizona.
Cole is the first pitcher in the majors to record double-digit strikeouts in nine consecutive games. He also became the first to reach 300 without throwing a complete game.
When Cole struck out Kaleb Cowart for the final out of the fifth inning, he punched the inside of his glove and got high-fives from all of his teammates in the dugout.
The 29-year-old righty nearly won the AL pitching Triple Crown _ he finished second in the majors in wins to teammate Justin Verlander, who won 21. Verlander was second to Cole in the AL in strikeouts (300) and ERA (2.58).
Springer had a four-hit day with 3 RBI and two runs scored.
The Angels finished at 72-90, their fourth consecutive losing season. The Angels struggled through injuries to Mike Trout and others and the death of teammate Tyler Skaggs.
Matt Thaiss homered twice, doubled and drove in four runs for the Angels. He homered off Cole in the third inning, a first-pitch solo shot to center field. He hit a two-run homer off Brad Peacock in the sixth for his second career multihomer game. He added an RBI double in the eighth.
Dillon Peters (4-4) gave up three home runs. He allowed seven earned runs on seven hits in just 3 1/3 innings.
PUJOLS BY THE NUMBERS
Angels star Albert Pujols went 1 for 2 and hit .244 this year, dropping his career batting average to .29962. Pujols had a .328 career batting average when he left St. Louis after 11 major league seasons and joined the Angels for 2012. Before Sept. 18, his average had not been below .300 at the end of a game since a 4-for-14 start as a rookie in 2001.
LANGSTON RETURNS TO BALLPARK
Mark Langston returned to Angel Stadium Sunday for the first time since he suffered a cardiac arrest in the radio booth in Houston last week. He returned to Anaheim on Saturday and although he didn’t work the game, he was back and feeling grateful to be alive.
“I’m not going to lie. Life is different, I have to admit. When I see my grandson … it’s definitely different,” said Langston, who paused as he teared
up. “I have to look at it that way. There was a reason I was given extra time. I don’t know what it is. There’s a reason for it. I haven’t even been emotional. That’s weird.”
Langston’s 6-year-old grandson, Ever, and family members and friends were with him on Sunday.
ANGEL STRUGGLES
Angels: The Angels saw Trout have perhaps his best season and a career-high 45 home runs, utility infielder David Fletcher had a breakthrough year, Tommy La Stella became an All-Star for the first time in his career before fracturing his leg and Hansel Robles earned a career-high 23 saves. Other than that, the Angels had trouble. They suffered a litany of injuries that shut down Shohei Ohtani, Trout and Justin Upton to name a few before the season ended and couldn’t get any consistency from their starting rotation. None of their big free agent signings in Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill or Cody Allen panned out. It was a disappointment for Brad Ausmus in his first year managing the team. The Angels haven’t made the postseason since 2014.
HOME COOKING
Angels: Despite falling out of contention early in the summer, the Angels drew 3,019,012 (a figure that includes the two games in Mexico) for an average of 37,762 fans per home game. The Angels drew more than 3 million fans for the 17th consecutive season. Last year, the Angels drew 3,020,216 fans, averaging 37,286.
Rangers close out ballpark 6-1 over AL East champ Yankees
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Lance Lynn struck out 10, getting his career-high 16th win as the Texas Rangers closed out the 26th and final season at their ballpark with a 6-1 win over the AL East champion New Yankees on Sunday.
After Aaron Judge’s 27th homer in the third inning tied the game at 1-1, Lynn (16-11) retired his last 14 batters while pitching against the team he finished 2018 with.
New York, which plays Minnesota in the Division Series starting Friday, went 103-59, an improvement of three wins from last year and the team’s best record in a decade. The 2009 Yankees also went 103-59, and they went on to win New York’s last World Series championship.
In the latest injury in a season filled with them, New York third baseman Gio Urshela left in the fourth inning after spraining his left ankle sprain after he fielded Nick Solak’s grounder toward the foul line and made a jump throw to first. The Yankees said the sprain was mild and no other testing was planned.
DJ LeMahieu was 0 for 3 and finished his first season with the Yankees with a .327 batting average, second in the AL to Chicago’s Tim Anderson (.335). LeMahieu set career highs with 26 homers and 102 RBIs.
Judge’s homer was the Yankees’ 306th, but Minnesota hit three Sunday to set a big league record with 307.
Nolan Ryan threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Globe Life Park in Arlington to his catcher was Kenny Rogers, who threw a perfect game in the park’s first season in 1994. President George W. Bush _ the team’s former owner _ was in the stands for the 2,081st regular season game at the stadium, where the Rangers went 1,145-936. New York was 57-48, a .543 winning percentage that was the best for any visiting AL team.
Home plate was moved after the game to Globe Life Field, the new stadium with a retractable roof across the street.
Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, who had 30 homers and 93 RBIs, was 1 for 3 and finished with a .205 average, the lowest among 136 major league qualifiers.
Texas went 78-84 in manager Chris Woodward’s first year, an 11-win improvement over 2018 but its third straight losing season.
Texas went ahead in the third when Shin-Soo Choo doubled and scored on an errant pickoff throw by Masahiro Tanaka (11-9). Danny Santana had an RBI single later in the inning to make it 3-1.
Tanaka, who entered the second inning after Chad Green opened, allowed two runs and five hits in three innings.
Lynn struck out 246 over in 208 2/3 innings in the first season of a $30 million, three-year contract and joined Mike Minor to give the Rangers their first duo with 200 innings and 200 strikeouts in the same season since Ryan and Bobby Witt in 1990.
TUNING UP
Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect eighth with a strikeout and heads to the postseason with 15 scoreless outings in 16 appearances since Aug. 2. … DH Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and went 8 for 25 with two homers in nine games since his return from the injured list on Sept. 18. He played just 18 games this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: LHP James Paxton played catch before the game, and manager Aaron Boone remained optimistic that the lefty starter would be fine. Paxton was removed after the first inning of the series opener Friday because of tightness and discomfort in his buttocks. An MRI on Saturday showed only nerve irritation. Paxton will likely throw a bullpen or side session Tuesday or Wednesday. … All-Star C Gary Sanchez played for the second time in three days since missing 10 games with left groin tightness. He was 1 for 3 with a single and strikeout while playing six innings behind the plate.
OUTDOOR SEATING
The Rangers announced a crowd of 47,144 for their fourth sellout this season on a sunny day with temperatures in the mid-90s. They ended with an attendance of 2,132,994. The 26,333 average was up from 26,014 last year, the third-lowest at the ballpark ahead of 24,323 in 2008 and 25,866 in 2003.
UP NEXT
Yankees: New York will hold an optional workout Tuesday and full workouts Wednesday and Thursday.
Rangers: The official opener at the new ballpark is March 31 against the Los Angeles Angels.