Texas @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 19, 2010 ) Texas 10, NY Yankees 3
The New York Yankees couldn’t wait to get home to play three games at Yankee Stadium.
Now the reigning World Series champions are simply hoping they’ll get a chance to return to Texas.
New York sends ace CC Sabathia to the mound Wednesday afternoon looking to stave off elimination in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers.
C.J. Wilson will take the hill for the Rangers, who have stormed back with three straight wins after a stunning loss in Game 1 to move within one win of their first trip to the World Series.
Whereas the Yankees at one time might have envisioned Sabathia pitching the series clincher at home, how the goal is to find a way to shut down a lineup that has torched New York’s pitching for 18 runs in the first two games at Yankee Stadium.
A 21-game winner during the regular season, Sabathia struggled in the series opener against the Rangers, lasting just four innings and allowing five runs on six hits. That start came after a nine-day layoff.
The burly left-hander can take comfort in his success at Yankee Stadium this season, where he went 11-2, including a six-inning stint against the Rangers on April 16 in which he allowed one runs on three hits.
New York will be looking for Sabathia to pitch deep into today’s game and stay away from its bullpen, which has been raked for 11 runs in the late innings of the last two games.
The Yankees will be without first baseman Mark Teixeira for today’s game – and most likely the rest of the series – after he pulled a hamstring while running out a ground ball in the fifth inning Tuesday night.
Wilson pitched brilliantly in Game 1, holding New York to one run through seven innings before tiring in the eighth, when the Yankees scored five runs off the left-hander and four relievers for a 6-5 victory after trailing 5-0.
In his first full year as a starter, Wilson also turned in an excellent outing in Game 2 of the division series against Tampa Bay, limiting the Rays to two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
With the way his teammates are swinging the bats, Wilson may not have to match the quality of his last two starts.
Bengie Molina struck the decisive blow Tuesday night with a three-run homer that put the Rangers ahead to stay. Josh Hamilton, who missed most of the final month while recovering from broken ribs, belted a pair of solo homers, giving him four in the series.
Cleanup hitter Vlad Guerrero also came alive with four hits Tuesday as Texas extended its road winning streak to five games in the postseason. Guerrero had been just 7-for-32 without a homer or RBI entering Game 4.
The Yankees, on the other hand, have only one regular batting over .300. Second baseman Robinson Cano homered and had two hits Tuesday to raise his average to .467 (7-for-15) with three homers and four RBIs in the series.