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Strike Zone podcast: Cole Hamels on Rangers; AL East, wild card races

On this week's edition of The Strike Zone podcast, Ted and Steve chat with Rangers ace Cole Hamels, then break down the wide-open AL East and wild-card races.

After a brief late-summer hiatus, The Strike Zone podcast is back, with Ted Keith and Stephen Cannella ready to discuss the biggest baseball news as the season winds to a close, with some help from a special guest.

On this week's edition of the show, Rangers ace Cole Hamels calls in to talk all things Texas. The lefty discusses his team's chase of a second straight American League West title; the budding rivalry between the Rangers and their intra-state and intra-division opponents, the Astros; how the stretch run in Texas compares to his time spent with the Phillies during their World Series glory years; as the author of a no-hitter, whether he agreed with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts's decision to pull Rich Hill in the middle of his perfect game bid; and much more.

After Hamels, Ted and Steve quickly catch up on the wide-open races for the AL East and wild card, and which teams have the inside edge in the quest for playoff baseball. The two also debate Hill's interrupted perfect game, and whether Roberts made the right call in pulling the veteran lefty after seven spotless innings.

Want more top-notch baseball talk delivered straight to you every week? Then subscribe to The Strike Zone podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud. Have any questions, comments or thoughts on the show? Reach out to Ted, Steve or producer Jon Tayler on Twitter, or leave us a review on iTunes.

Check back on SI.com next week for another episode of The Strike Zone.