Rangers clinch 2nd straight AL West title

The Texas Rangers are best in the west once again, as the reigning division champions clinched a second-straight American League West title Friday night with a 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in front of 26,367 at Oakland Alameda Coliseum.

"There are so many storylines about this team that are incredible," manager Jeff Banister told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. "It's a feeling of elation, and I couldn't be more proud of them. I don't know if i can exhale at all. It's been a long road."

Despite not having a batter reach base through the game's first six frames, Cole Hamels kept the A's at bay until Adrian Beltre delivered a game-changing two-run blast in the seventh, propelling the Rangers to their seventh division crown since relocating to Texas from Washington in 1972.

"It still means a lot," said shortstop Elvis Andrus, who has now won four division titles with the Rangers. "Every year is great, and this year was really sweet. Everybody did their job. Our DNA is never ever quit, and we never did."

The first team in the American League to clinch a postseason spot this year, the Rangers (91-63) will now set their sights on finishing the campaign with the best record in the league to guarantee themselves home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"It's just the first step of winning the division, getting to the playoffs. We have a good enough team to win the World Series," Beltre told Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.