Rangers’ road to the World Series: ALCS Day 6 – thwarting the Yankees (Part 4)
The New York Yankees were trailing behind the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship by 2 wins to 3. They won their last game through a decent pitching exhibition from Carsten Charles Sabathia, but with the star
pitcher out of steam, the reigns had to be passed down to Phil Hughes whose earlier encounter with the Texans didn’t result in a win for the Yanks. With Allan James Burnett out of form and Andy Pettitte injured, the young pitcher had to be the one to star
for the side. Manager Joe Girardi had a hard task on his hands and it required him to win the 6th and the 7th games in the Major League baseball, post season. The hitters were required to hit top form and with
the Rangers prowling for the World Series title, the emphasis on every department in the squad had to be observed and perfected.
The Rangers were riding on cloud 9 and that was understandable. For a team that had never won in the playoffs, the circumstances were now different. The Texans beat the Tampa Bay Rays to make it to the championship. The team
came face to face against the Yankees who had always slain the West division title holders in every playoff encounter they made. Michael Young was one of the players to experience the defeat and the exit from the post season, back in 1999, when the ball club
made it to the playoffs.
The situation for the Rangers had changed exponentially and the team that had been considered an unlikely contender in the World Series had now risen from the depths of the Major League Baseball grounds to become a competitor
in the championship. Colby Lewis, who had been successful against the Yankees in the series, earlier was back to start and it was his influence that manager Ron Washington was counting on to cancel out the New York threat.
The game had entered the bottom 5th inning in the 6th fixture and both competing teams were deadlocked for a run on the board. Elvis Andrus converted a run for the Rangers while
Alex Rodriguez ran in a run to put the Yankees back in the competition.
Texas was calm after Lewis wild pitched a run in the top 5th and that was a sign for the fans across the forum. The Rangers were far from done and when the bottom 5th came,
the screws were turned tight as the side bolted the Yankees with a shocking filter of runs. Mitch Moreland began the inning with an infield single to the second. Elvis was back in, but his contribution saw him out as his grounder out to the second, saw Mitch
move up in the diamond. Young did the same with the grounder to the pitcher. Moreland was now on third and when Josh Hamilton walked in to face Hughes on the mound, the situation changed. The Most Valuable Player candidate was walked to the first by the pitcher
and that opened up the match for Vladimir Guerrero who walked in next.
Guerrero was in good form and the big hitter wasted no time as he drove Hamilton and Mitch in for two runs with a double to the deep centre. The Yankees manager had seen enough and replaced Phil with David Robertson on the
mound. The move which was supposed to quell the danger in the strike zone backfired as Nelson Cruz came in and smashed a 425 feet homer to the left centre. The tables had turned on New York and it was no surprise. Nelson had done enough and with Guerrero on
the second base, the hit got 2 extra runs on the board.
The Yankees were now trailing and the match was almost done. There were still 4 innings remaining but when the supporters added the championship in the equation, the chances of a win were low.
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