Rangers battle Yankees
By: Brad Young
Baseball’s version of the Final Four begins Friday when New York and Texas meet in the American League Championship Series. The Rangers will have home-field advantage in this series despite finishing five games behind the Yankees in the overall standings. Texas captured the AL West title, while New York earned the wild-card berth behind AL East winner Tampa Bay.
Home-field advantage will not determine this series for a couple of reasons. Texas needed all five games to win its opening playoff round with the Rays. That series will be remembered as the first time a road team won every game. It took the Rangers 50 years to win a postseason series, and now they face a formidable task of taking on the defending World Series champions.
New York finished the regular season with a 43-38 road record, and swept the Twins in the AL Division Series by taking the first two games at Minnesota. However the Yankees have never advanced to the World Series as a wild card, failing to reach the Fall Classic in 1995, 1997 and 2007.
The opening line for the ALCS lists New York as a 160 MLB odds favorite to win this series, and a 135 ‘chalk’ to capture Friday’s Game 1. Manager Joe Girardi’s team currently is listed at plus 160 to win the World Series, while Texas is the longest shot remaining at plus 900.
The Yankees and Rangers split eight games this season after Texas swept New York in three home games in mid-September. Manager Ron Washington’s team won two of those games by a run, including an extra-inning affair.
One thing that will hinder the Rangers is that staff ace Cliff Lee will not be available to pitch until Game 3. The southpaw continued his postseason dominance by beating Tampa Bay in Tuesday’s deciding Game 5. Lee is now an incredible 6-0 during seven postseason starts with a miniscule 1.44 ERA.
The former Arkansas Razorback beat the Yankees twice last season in the World Series as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. That marked the Phillies’ only two victories versus New York. Lee would also get the starting assignment in Game 7 if this series goes the full limit.
Texas will give the Game 1 starting assignment to C.J. Wilson, a pitcher who won 15 games this year. The Rangers were 24-9 when the 29-year-old was on the hill during the regular season. Texas is 8-0 in Wilson’s previous eight home outings against a team with a winning record. The Rangers are also 6-0 the past six games versus a southpaw starter.
New York will go with a four-man rotation for the ALCS after using just three pitchers versus the Twins. Ace left-hander C.C. Sabathia will get the Game 1 starting assignment, followed by Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett.
Sabathia remains one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game, and the Yankees are 39-13 his previous 52 starts. Pettitte has 19 victories in the postseason after shutting down Minnesota in Game 2, and Hughes also stepped up in the division series by tossing seven solid innings in the Game 3 clinching victory.
New York’s postseason prognosis might be determined by the right arm of Burnett, who struggled during the regular season. The 33-year-old went just 1-6 his last 10 starts with an unsightly 6.20 ERA.
New York has seen the ‘over’ go 6-1-1 its last eight playoff road matchups, and Texas has seen the ‘over’ go 9-4-2 its previous 15 home games.