Texas Rangers put New York Yankees on the brink
The confidence New York Yankees manager showed in AJ Burnett in his pre-game press conference was quickly washed away as the Texas Rangers beat the Yankees 10-3 on Tuesday night.
Burnett gave up five runs on six hits whilst walking three batters in six tough innings of work. Bengie Molina hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning to give the Rangers a 5-3 lead, a lead which they never lost.
Josh Hamilton added two solo shots in the seventh and ninth innings and Nelson Cruz hit a ball into the leftfield second deck to finish the scoring.
"It's not bad for a fat kid that everyone makes fun of when he runs," Molina said. “We came here, we are supposed to lose.”
Rangers starting pitcher Tommy Hunter lasted just 3 1/3 innings allowing three runs on five hits. But Derek Holland came in relief and stifled the Yankees. The 24-year-old left-hander pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit.
"They all talk about home-field advantage - we want to be able to show that there's no such thing,” Holland said after the game.
Hamilton, who hit his fourth home run in four games, still isn’t taking anything for granted despite taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
"Obviously, the World Series is a place we've never been before. After the game was over, as we were going through the [celebration] line, you could see the intensity in everybody's faces. They were talking about tomorrow's game already,” Hamilton said after.
Derek Jeter scored his League Championship Series record 32 run and record 30th post-season double, but couldn’t spark the Yankees into action who are batting .198 in the ALCS.
Game 5 will have a rematch of game-one, with the Yankees' CC Sabathia against Rangers’ C.J. Wilson.
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