New York @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 15, 2010 ) NY Yankees 6, Texas 5
The New York Yankees had Texas right where they wanted them - with the Rangers' bullpen trying to protect a late lead.
It turned out to be no contest. New York pushed across five runs in the eighth inning before four Texas relievers managed to retire a batter en route to shocking the Rangers 6-5 in Friday night's Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
It was a knee-buckling loss for Texas, which has now absorbed 10 consecutive postseason defeats at the hands of the Yankees.
And many of the losses have followed the same script. In 11 playoff games between the teams, New York has outscored the Rangers 16-0 after the seventh inning.
Now Texas must try to regroup with a quick turnaround to an afternoon game on Saturday, knowing it needs to win or faces the daunting task of heading to New York in a 2-0 series hole against the reigning World Series champions.
Journeyman right-hander Colby Lewis will be charged with the task of slowing down the Yankees, who won the series opener despite seeing ace CC Sabathia knocked out of the game after four innings in his shortest outing of the year.
Robinson Cano went 3-for-4 in Game 1, cracking a solo home run in the seventh and added a game-tying RBI single in the eighth for New York. Derek Jeter had a pair of doubles and Alex Rodriguez contributed a two-run single.
Lewis went 12-13 this season after spending the previous two years pitching in Japan. He threw five scoreless innings in Game 3 of the AL Division Series against Tampa, striking out five and walking five.
The 31-year-old right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.89 ERA in his career against the Yankees, but he hasn't faced them since the 2003 season.
New York will counter with right-hander Phil Hughes, who went 18-8 this season and has been spectacular in two career starts against the Rangers.
Hughes blanked Texas on three hits over eight innings on May 25, 2009, and tossed 6 1/3 no-hit innings against the Rangers in his rookie season of 2007.
The 24-year-old Hughes saw the Rangers just once this year, pitching a scoreless inning in relief last month.
Regardless of the pitching matchup, Texas has to find a way to bounce back from a morale-crushing loss. They got seven-plus brilliant innings from starter C.J. Wilson, who had limited the Yankees to one run on four hits through seven innings, only to see the bullpen implode.
The first three Rangers relievers – Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day and Clay Rapada – all failed to retire a batter. Oliver yielded two walks while O’Day and Rapada threw just one pitch apiece.
In contrast, New York’s bullpen worked five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, to give the Yankees a chance to climb back into the game.
Texas also has another obstacle to overcome today – the Rangers are 0-3 at home in the postseason this year, having won all three playoff games away from home.