#3 Texas Rangers (93-74) vs. #4 New York Yankees (98-67)
Tale of the Tape:
Season Series: 4-4 Tie
ALDS Result: Yankees over Twins 3-0; Rangers over Rays 3-2
The most succesful franchise in sports history is looking to advance to its second consecutive World Series. The Yankees take on a team coming off its first ever postseason series victory. In a matchup of two franchises with very different histories: The New York Yankees will take on the Texas Rangers starting Friday on TBS (and don’t forget, CONAN debuts on TBS November 8th!).
After struggling down the stretch, the Yankees made a statement in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the Minnesota Twins. While Joe Girardi’s squad went just 29-30 from August 1st until the end of the regular season, New York looked like a rejuvenated squad in the ALDS. Was it a true turnaround or was the Yankees success due to a favorable matchup against the Minnesota?
Thanks to their sweep, the Yankees have the luxury of setting up their rotation for the ALCS. CC Sabathia (21-7; 3.18) will start Game 1 and Phil Hughes will start Game 2 for the Yankees. The young righty will take the mound in Arlington where in three career appearances he has yet to allow a run to score. Hughes has been brilliant in Texas allowing just three hits and striking out 14 over 15.2 innings. AJ Burnett will likely take the mound in Game 4 in an appearance most Yankee supporters are very worried about.
via AP
However most importantly for the Yankees, Texas left-hander Cliff Lee will be unable to start until Game 3 on the ALCS due to his brilliant performance closing out the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Lee has been simply outstanding in the postseason throughout his career. He is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in eight career postseason starts with 54 strikeouts and just six walks. In his 120 pitch complete game effort in Game 5 against the Rays Lee joined Bob Gibson as the only pitchers in baseball history to have at least three double digit strikeout performances in the postseason. Lee has dominated the Yankees over the past three seasons including two victories against New York in last year’s World Series as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lee has never made a start on short rest in his career and Texas manager Ron Washington might be inclined to hold him back until Game 3. If that ends up being the case, it would set Lee up to start a potential Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. However, the Rangers have to worry about getting to that point first.
CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis will take the mound for Texas in the first two games of the series. The duo combined to allow no earned runs in the ALDS over 11 and 2/3 innings pitched against a strong Tampa lineup.
The Yankees offense will need to come alive in this series. 1B Mark Teixeira and 3B Alex Rodriguez will taking on a Texas team that they spent much of their career with. Teixeira has struggled throughout 2010 batting just .256 including a .220 average since September 1st. While Robinson Cano has had a breakout season for New York, the Yankees are going to need the middle of their order to start producing.
Speaking of the middle of the order, the trio of Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton, and Michael Young did very little in the ALDS against Tampa Bay. With Elvis Andrus’s speed at the top of the order, Texas is going to need their big bats in the middle of the lineup to come up with timely hits. Hamilton was well on his way to winning the 2010 AL MVP before an rib injury caused him to miss a lot of time down the stretch. He went just two-for-18 (.111) in the ALDS series. If Hamilton is able to regain his form at the plate, Texas should have success against the Yankees pitching.
via Yahoo Sports
In the battle of the bullpens, it’s the young flamethrower against the ageless wonder. Neftali Perez has been lights out closing games for the Rangers and Mariano Rivera is of course the greatest postseason closer in the history of the game. However, Rivera did blow two saves against Texas this season and his 5.79 ERA against the Rangers was his worst against any team this season. If the Yankees trio of Kerry Wood, Boone Logan, and David Robertson holds up and gets a lead to Rivera in the 9th, it will tough for Texas to break through against him under the bright lights of October.
This will not pan out as a matchup between an experienced squad and a team “just happy to be there”. I expect Texas to push the Yankees and it should be a very entertaining back and forth matchup.
Prediction: The Yankees will do everything in their power to avoid a potential Game 7 matchup against Cliff Lee. Yankees in six.
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