ARLINGTON, Texas – As ugly as Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers was at times, the final out was a thing of beauty for the Texas Rangers.
Defensive replacement Drew Stubbs made a running catch in right-center to end the game and preserve a 7-6 victory for the Rangers.
The catch helped the Rangers snap a three-game slide and reduce their magic number to four.
It also ended a night in which Texas ace Cole Hamels surrendered six runs, the Tigers committed four errors and the Rangers left the bases-loaded twice in situations where they could have broken the game open.
But all that mattered once the liner from Kinsler hit Stubbs' glove was that the Rangers won.
"That's about as good a catch as you're going to see in a pressure situation," Texas manager Jeff Banister said.
Stubbs came into the game in the eighth inning while the Rangers bullpen was shutting down the Tigers in a game that featured all 13 runs scored in the four innings. Texas closer Shawn Tolleson allowed back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on the corners. He got a huge second out when Rajai Davis popped up a bunt attempt.
That brought up Kinsler, who provided the memorable final out.
"It was deep in the count so I thought maybe he (Kinsler) would take more of a defensive swing just to put the ball in play," Stubbs said. "He actually got off a great swing and drove the ball into right center. I was a little unsure off the bat if I was going to be able to track it down. Luckily it hung up long enough to make a play."
The Stubbs catch preserved the win for Hamels, who was bailed out by the offense and some shoddy Detroit defense after a poor start to the game.
Hamels was terrible with two outs early, allowing six runs with two outs in the first three innings alone. Thankfully for Hamels, he wasn't as bad as Detroit starter Daniel Norris or the Tigers defense.
Norris threw 54 pitches in a first inning that saw Texas score five times, with only two of the runs earned because of a pair of Detroit errors.
Unfortunately for Texas, the 5-2 lead wasn't safe for Hamels (12-8) as the Tigers cut the lead to 5-4 in the top of the second only to have the Rangers counter with a run of their own in the bottom of the second.
Hamels, who retired the first two runners in each of the first three innings, couldn't get out of the third unscathed either as a walk and a hit batter paved the way for two more runs.
But just when it seemed like it was all coming unglued for Hamels and the Rangers, a real baseball game broke out. Hamels retired nine-straight batters after Dixon Machado's RBI double in the third inning and the Rangers scored what turned out to be the winning run.
It came after Adrian Beltre blooped a double down the line in right that scored Shin-Soo Choo in the fourth inning.
Hamel managed to make it through six innings, allowing six runs, which is the most he's allowed in his time with the Rangers. He wasn't sharp, but he was good enough to get the game to the winning pieces in the bullpen and of course Stubbs. The Rangers have now won the last nine games started by Hamels.
"I can't be more thankful for that because it definitely made the type of performance I had a little bit better and easier to move past," said Hamels. "It's not what you want to be able to do at this time, especially with the way things have been going and how I've been feeling and not to be able to go out and put up the type of performance I'd expect. But it is a team game and these guys came up huge."
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