Rangers ponder winning chance, Yankees bloom in 8th to win (Pt. 2)
The Texas Rangers hosted the New York Yankees at their home ground of the Rangers Ballpark on Friday for the first game in the American League Championship. When the sides met, they had a different mindset in place. The objectives
were the same but the reasons behind those goals differed exponentially. Suffice to say, both clubs were pumped up to take on the other in the competition. Some of the players from both teams were familiar with each other and with a lot of history tied to
the game; the hosts were more pumped up about the bout than the visitors.
The Rangers had never gone past the playoffs and that was understood to be a certain cause for concern in Ron Washington’s books. The Yankees were well prepared and had a better understanding of the game than them. The Texans
never made it past the post season and stage and much was owed to the Yanks. Whenever the team managed to go through, the New York goliaths beat them out of contention. History is a cruel instructor and the match between the two sides provided a test to be
passed. With players like Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler, the task wasn’t hard but it wasn’t hard too. C. J. Wilson was in to provide cover and his protection would give the hitters to place their markers on the Yankee pitchers
on the mound.
In respect to the Rangers, the Yankees had big star names on the roster and manager Joe Girardi was knowledgeable of that fact. Carsten Charles Sabathia was on the mound and his status of being the best pitcher of 2010 in
the American League was all that the team needed to let the batters concentrate on the hitting. Unlike the Texans, New York piled up on experience. 28 World Titles was no strike of good luck. Good players were locked in the roster and that was going to be
one of the driving forces behind the side’s stride on Friday. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira were former Ranger players and they’re quality alone was to be feared on the field.
The match began with the Yankees on the strike zone with their bats and Wilson on the mound for the Texas ball club. The fixture did not take a good long time to catch the right momentum as the ball thrower retired Derek
Jeter and Teixeira while striking out Nick Swisher. The Rangers on the other hand, were more productive on the bag as Sabathia wasn’t gripping the ball well. He walked Elvis Andrus to the first base and that opened the bottom 1st a
bit. Michael Young made his way in and he drove in a single to the centre that got Elvis to the third.
The game was open and it didn’t take time to reach a critical moment. Josh Hamilton was the third man in and with no player out; he took a leap of faith by smashing Carsten’s ball for a 359 feet homer to the right. The damage
was enormous, the effect was electrifying and the hammer struck the right nail to boost the side up with 3 valuable runs. If there was any reason to believe Hamilton was not going in with a good form, that thought was blown right out of the pitcher.
The Yankees were suddenly stuck in an uncomfortable position. They were now trailing by three runs and the game still had not moved beyond the 1st innings. The jumpy start was still in progression
and Nelson Cruz gave the fielding side a scare as he moved to the third base when Sabathia moved Kinsler and Matt Treanor to the first bases. The innings was saved after the Nelson’s ill decision to run home was cut short by the fielder on choice.
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