CC Sabathia takes on C.J. Wilson in Game 1 of the ALCS
The Rangers earned the franchise’s first ever playoff series victory when they defeated Tampa Bay 5-1 Tuesday. Friday they’ll head right back into the thick of things as they take on the most storied team
in all of baseball, the New York Yankees, in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
"The Yankees are good," said Rangers third baseman Michael Young. "It's definitely going to be a challenge. They are the defending champions, so they are the team to beat. We're ready for the challenge.
It's two good teams going out there. It should be a lot of fun."
The Yankees cruised through their opening round series, defeating the Minnesota Twins in three straight games. The Rangers needed five games to knock off the Tampa Bay Rays. The advantage to sweeping the
first round is that New York’s ace pitcher, CC Sabathia, is ready to go in Game 1 while the Rangers needed their ace, Cliff Lee, to pitch Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series (ALDS). Lee, who beat the Yankees twice for Philadelphia in last year’s
World Series, won’t be able to pitch again until Game 3.
Instead the Rangers will send C.J. Wilson to the mound against the Yanks in Game 1. Wilson pitched well against the Rays in Game 2 of the ALDS, going 6 1/3 innings while surrendering only two hits and
no runs. He also had seven strikeouts against only two walks. He was 15-8 in the regular season with a 3.35 ERA.
“I feel great," said Wilson. "I've had a lot of rest, so I'm ready to go."
Sabathia had a bit of a rough outing in Game 1 of the Yankees’ ALDS. He pitched six innings, giving up four runs on five hits, three of them were earned. Still, the Rangers aren’t about to take Sabathia
lightly. He’s been hittable in one playoff game this season, but he compiled a 21-7 record in the regular season with a 3.18 ERA.
This is not the first time the Rangers and Yankees have met in the playoffs. In 1996, after the Rangers had won their first division title, and the first game in the playoffs against the Yankees, the Bronx
Bombers won three straight to eliminate the Rangers from the post-season. They met again in 1998 and 1999 with the Yankees sweeping both series.
The Yankees have now beaten the Rangers in nine straight playoff games. With Lee unable to pitch against Sabathia, that number could easily rise to 10.
The two teams split the season series this year with each of them winning four games. The Yankees hit .269 against the Rangers while Texas had an average of .241. New York also held the advantage in ERA
with a 4.20 average compared to Texas’ 4.63 average.
The Rangers are confident that Wilson can shut down the Yankees, but they also have something else going for them, home field advantage and a hungry fan base that has never seen their team play in an ALCS
game.
"Game 1 will be nuts," said Wilson. "Our fans have been showing up, and the two games we played [against the Rays] were the loudest I have ever heard. It will be good to be home and having about 51,000
fans cheering for us."
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