Cole hamels advertises himself to the Yankees by beating them

Some insurance for C.C. Sabathia’s fragile knee, Masahiro Tanaka’s balky splitter and Sonny Gray’s case of the nibbles would seem in order.

So, as the Yankees look for ways to separate themselves from the Boston Red Sox in the coming months — and perhaps later the defending champion Houston Astros and the Cleveland Indians — it may be hard to get Tuesday night’s game out of their minds.

Cole Hamels, the veteran left-hander with a sturdy playoff resume, continued to deliver the type of performance a World Series contender would covet, shackling the Yankees for seven innings in the Texas Rangers’ 6-4 victory at Globe Life Park.

Hamels allowed two runs on solo homers by Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar and little else before the Yankees threatened late on a two-run eighth-inning home run by Austin Romine. Keone Kela pitched a perfect ninth, leaving Aaron Judge on deck when the game ended.

It was a rare miserable night for the Yankees, who lost for just the fifth time in 27 games and dropped a half-game behind Boston in the American League East.

Manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the sixth inning by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg for persistent carping from the dugout — the first ejection of Boone’s nascent managing career. It was also an abbreviated night for catcher Gary Sanchez, who — unable to prevent three wild pitches in the second inning — was replaced in the bottom of the sixth because of cramping in his calf.

Hamels was responsible for a great deal of the Yankees’ agony, allowing only four hits, striking out seven and walking two. The home run by Torres was the only hit the Yankees managed through five innings. And the walks seemed by design, as Hamels pitched around Sanchez with a runner on base in the fourth and the sixth, and took his chances with Didi Gregorius and Tyler Austin, who did not hit the ball out of the infield in those at-bats.

It was the type of savvy performance that Hamels has been showcasing of late. He has a 1.88 ERA in his last four starts — all against playoff teams from last year: the Red Sox, Indians, Astros and Yankees.

As the Rangers, who have been troubled by injuries, sit in last place in the American League West, it seems all but certain that Hamels will be on the trade block as the nonwaiver trade deadline on Aug. 1 nears.

“I don’t necessarily make the decisions or point the direction of what we’re trying to do or what ownership or management is trying to do,” Hamels said Monday. “I’m just one piece that’s trying to help win ballgames. It’s a matter of being here and doing what I can until there’s a different situation or the time has come.”

Whenever the Yankees’ chase for starting pitching begins in earnest, they have plenty to offer — young, major league-ready talent in Clint Frazier, Austin, Jordan Montgomery, Brandon Drury and Andujar, along with younger prospects from one of baseball’s richest farm systems.

Hamels, who is making $23.5 million this season, would be attractive on several counts: He is an impending free agent, he is not likely to cost as much in prospects, and because he is a free agent, it would not impinge their pursuit next winter of Patrick Corbin, the Arizona left-hander, who could be joined on the free-agent market by Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Those type of pitchers seemed particularly tantalizing Tuesday night.

Domingo German, who had not pitched since getting raked by the Oakland Athletics for six runs May 12, was shaky again in his third start since replacing the injured Montgomery in the rotation.

Jurickson Profar lined a three-run homer to center field in the first inning and the Rangers added two more runs in the second in a fit of wildness. German hit a batter, walked two more, and Ryan Rua reached when he struck out and the ball bounced away from Sanchez, whose flip to German at home was not quick enough to beat the headfirst slide of Robinson Chirinos.

The early lead made it easy for Hamels, who used his change-up to great effect, keeping the Yankees off balance and off his fastball and cutter.

“They have a lot of power so you just have to limit the damage,” Hamels said Monday in assessing the Yankees. “Solo home runs are probably the key — if you’re going to give up 500-foot home runs, try to make sure they’re solo and they don’t bunch together in fours and fives. Like anybody, there’s holes and you just have to be able to exploit it and you have to be able to locate.

“I think really when it comes down to it, it’s a chess match and you try to study up as much as possible but at the end of the day you have to execute.”

On Tuesday, he did that just fine — for the Yankees to see.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.