Texas @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 18, 2010 ) Texas 8, NY Yankees 0
Tommy Hunter may have the most unenviable job in baseball.
When he takes the mound for the Texas Rangers in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, the 24-year-old Hunter will face the impossible task of following a masterful performance delivered by teammate Cliff Lee 24 hours earlier.
Lee remained perfect in his postseason career with a near-perfect performance in Game 3, giving the surprising Rangers a 2-1 lead over the New York Yankees in the best-of-7 series.
Lee reduced the Bronx Bombers to the Bronx Enbalmers, allowing just a pair of meek singles while striking out 13 in eight innings to improve to 7-0 lifetime in the playoffs.
Three of those victories have come at the expense of the Yankees, who may have drawn some inspiration from the way they were manhandled by the 32-year-old left-hander.
Knowing that Lee will be waiting to pitch Game 7 if the series goes that far, New York should have an added sense of urgency to get both the team's hitting and pitching untracked.
Aside from a five-run outburst in the eighth inning of Game 1 that hung a crushing 6-5 loss on the Rangers, the Yankees have managed just three runs over 26 innings in the series.
The Nos. 2-4 hitters in the lineup have done nothing for the Yankees. Nick Swisher is 1-for-11, Mark Teixeira is hitless in 11 at-bats and Alex Rodriguez is 2-for-13.
Texas, meanwhile, has done a good job of mashing New York's pitching, pushing across 20 runs in the three games while hitting three home runs, seven doubles and a triple. Josh Hamilton homered for the second time in the series and drove in three runs Monday night while Michael Young added three hits and Nelson Cruz extended his playoff hitting streak to eight games.
Assigned the task of cooling off the Rangers' bat is right-hander A.J. Burnett, who was bypassed in the division series against Minnesota and hasn’t pitched since Oct. 2.
Burnett struggled to a 10-15 record this season and staggered to the finish line, going 0-3 in his last six starts. He threw a wild simulated game a week ago, hitting two Yankee batters.
There was speculation that New York manager Joe Girardi would come back with ace CC Sabathia on three days' rest if the Yankees trailed in the series, but he insisted he will stick with Burnett.
Tonight's pitching matchup with be a rematch of a game in Texas on Sept. 11, when both Burnett and Hunter had their starts cut short due to a 59-minute rain delay.
It had been Burnett's best outing of the final month until the rains came. He allowed two runs on four hits while striking out six and walking three in four innings.
Hunter, who compiled a 13-4 record during the season, went five innings in that outing, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out eight.
He was the losing pitcher in Game 4 of the division series against Tampa Bay, surrendering three runs on six hits while striking out seven in five innings.