The Rangers clinched the American League West on Friday after beating the Athletics 3-0 on the road.
Cole Hamels led the way by tossing seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts to improve to 15-5 on the season. He was pitted in a difficult pitcher's duel early, as Kendall Graveman took a perfect game into the seventh inning, but Texas' bats came alive to score all three of their runs in that inning.
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Carlos Gomez broke up the perfect game with a single, then Adrian Beltre hit a home run later in the inning to seal the deal.
The Rangers, who have won back-to-back division titles, have been crowned champions in the West in four of the past seven seasons. The Astros and Mariners are still alive for the final wild card spot, but the Tigers and Orioles remain ahead of them.
The Rangers also got more good news Friday when relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress was reinstated by MLB after being placed on the restricted list following an August arrest on a drunken driving charge.
As long as their starting rotation holds up, the Rangers could make some serious noise in the playoffs.