It took until the last day of the season, but the Texas Rangers finally clinched the AL West with a 9-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. 

Twenty-four hours ago, the Rangers blew a four run lead in the ninth inning against the Angels. 

During the game I tweeted, “If I’m a Rangers fan, I want Cole Hamels pitching 9 innings. Their bullpen is on fumes.”

Cole Hamels pitched a complete game for the Texas Rangers. After giving up a two-run home run to Albert Pujols in the first, Hamels didn’t give up a hit after the second inning. 

The Rangers took a lead in the 5th on a two-run home run by Adrian Beltre. After the Angels took out Garrett Richards, the Rangers scored six runs off the Angels bullpen in the 7th. 

You can now make the argument that the Rangers acquiring Cole Hamels is as big as the Blue Jays acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price and the Mets acquiring Yoenis Cespedes. The Rangers won Hamels’ last 10 starts going back to August 17th. If not for Hamels, the Rangers don’t reach the post-season.

Although much of the Rangers’ success came at the expense of the Houston Astros, they did clinch the second AL Wild Card spot when the Angels lost. It marks the first time the Astros have played in the post-season since 2005 when they were still a NL team. Despite a terrible September and a terrible record away from Minute Maid Park, the Astros will get to play the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card game. But because the Astros lost 5-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the AL Wild Card game will be played at Yankee Stadium. But who on God’s green earth expected the Astros to be in the post-sseason?

More on that later. Tomorrow I will list my 2015 MLB post-season predictions.