Game 4 of the 2010 American League Championship Series was basically a microcosm of everything that went wrong for the Yankees at one point or another this season: had a lousy start (though was actually one out away from a surprisingly fantastic start), the offense excruciatingly squandered a seemingly earth-shattering number of opportunities to score runs and the bullpen threw gasoline on a fire, as the Rangers beat the Yankees 10-3 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
This was the fourth straight game in which the Rangers thoroughly outplayed the Yankees, and save for that miraculous eighth inning in Game 1, would’ve represented a decisive sweep by Texas. The Rangers have led in a ridiculous 30 of the 36 innings the two teams have played, and have run out to a four run-plus lead at one point or another in all four games. Texas has scored a whopping 30 runs, for an absurd 7.5 runs per game. This has been a postseason ass-whupping the likes of which the Yankees really haven’t seen since the 2002 ALDS against the Angels, who scored 7.8 runs per game in their four-game obliteration of the Bombers while hitting .376/.406/.624 (though Cleveland did hit .315/.417/.524 in the 2007 ALDS).
Things actually began semi-promisingly in this one. The Yankees actually scored first(!) for the second time all postseason, on a solo home run in the second, and managed to keep the Rangers off the board in the first inning for the first time all series. pitched two lights-out innings before a leadoff walk and hit-by-pitch came around to score in the third to give Texas a 2-1 lead. However, Burnett settled down until the fateful sixth inning. With two out and Nelson Cruz on second base after astutely tagging on a deep fly to center, Joe Girardi — who apparently underwent a lobotomy at some point during the game — subsequently put the Yankees on a path to self-destruction. Girardi ordered Burnett to intentionally walk , bringing noted Yankee Killer to the the plate.
With Burnett clearly nearing the end of his effectiveness, the fact that Burnett was left in at this point in the game was rather mind-boggling, and A.J. of course promptly rewarded Girardi by giving up a go-ahead three-run shot to Molina (of course) to put the Rangers ahead 5-3. Though it was only a two-run deficit, it felt much, much larger considering how much time the Yankees have spent playing behind in this series, and sure enough it ended up being plenty as , and (!) punted away any remaining chance the team may have had at staging a dramatic, late-inning comeback.
And of course, the Yankees had their chances in this one, once again failing to capitalize countless times in a horrific regression to their awful September stranded-baserunner shenanigans, going 2-13 with RISP and stranding eight. After tying the game in the 3rd, the Yankees put runners on first and second with no outs in both the 4th and 5th innings (not to mention bases loaded with one out in the 4th), yet only managed to score one run. Oh, and to add insult to injury, apparently pulled a hamstring trying to run a ball out for first and is out for the playoffs. However, sad as it is to say, this probably isn’t even much of a loss, considering Tex was hitting .000 in the ALCS.
After three straight crushing losses, it’s getting pretty hard to remain optimistic at this point. The Rangers still need to win one more game, and so the Yankees are not done yet. However, the Rangers have throttled the Yankees in every single facet of the game, looking like World Champions in doing so. The Yankees have looked absolutely, positively awful, and there’s no way to color their performance in this series any other way. They’ve only received one quality start in four tries from their starting pitchers, who have collectively pitched to an 8.14 ERA, while the offense has managed 2.8 runs per game.
None of the Yankee losses have even been close, with the slimmest margin of victory five runs in Texas 7-2 Game 2 win. Not only has almost no one in the lineup shown up on the offensive side of the ledger except for and (surprise) , but several players — and the injured-for-the-rest-of-the-postseason Tex — have incredibly than they did in last year’s postseason. Receiving zero extra base hits from , , and has also been devastating.
The Yankees apparently haven’t been in a 3-1 hole in a best-of-seven series since 1958, and so the team is now facing the ultimate test. Though reeling three straight wins off is fa
r from impossible, and you have to like ‘s chances of extending the series another day, even if is able to deliver the Yankees to a Game 7 they then get to face as their reward, as if the offense being mired in one of the most hard-to-watch, painful slumps they’ve ever been in wasn’t bad enough.
It’s foolish to throw in the towel before that 27th out of the opponent’s fourth win is recorded, but barring a complete one-eighty on the part of both the offense and the pitching, it’s difficult to envision a scenario in which the Rangers won’t be representing the American League in the 2010 World Series.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
After last night's action, the Rangers improved their team batting line for the ALCS to .307/.390/.536, while the Yankees "improved" theirs to .198/.295/.321.
I suppose some credit is due to the Rangers' pitching staff, but that's still no excuse. The Yankee offense not only hasn't gotten it done; their team OPS of .616 means that they they are essentially running nine Jose Lopezes (.609) out there every single night. That's simply inexcusable.
There was one fateful moment that I totally recognized as the end of AJ's stuff (and perhaps the Yankees' season): AJ throwing a nearly wild pitch as part of Murphy's IBB. The announcers vaguely commented on it, but I think my quote was "oh god, that better not start some shit."
And it did!
texas rangers in the world series how exciting?
big revenue bust for mlb…
Ian is dead on, and you could see that AJ was starting to miss his spots in the 6th. Kinsler just missed a 2-run shot and still managed to hit it deep enough to move Cruz into scoring position – not a good sign. I think everyone but Girardi recognized AJ was done. As punchless as our lineup has been I'd say Girardi has been our worst performer of the series so far.
Joe's definitely made some questionable moves, but ultimately it's up to the players to perform.
it's extraordinarily hard to win in the playoffs when you hit .198/.295/.321 with a team ERA of 7.71.
You can't scapegoat Girardi here. The Yankees did not come to play, plain and simple. Joe isn't in a position to have quality ABs and reach base. Blaming the manager is the ultimate cop out when the players decided to look like a bunch of punks.
No longer anonymous like I was yesterday. Thanks for taking the time to post a thoughtful, classy blog. I have bookmarked it.
Texas played better than New York last night. Yes, Girardi erred when he left Burnett in one batter too long. Burnett was trying to throw a fastball away when he left the pitch right up in the one place Bengi can still yack it.
But other than that, Texas simply hit, pitched and hustled better. I thought the key moment was Cruz's tag up and move to 2nd. That necessitated the Murphy walk (which was a smart move by Girardi) and allowed Bengi to be the hero.
As a Rangers fan since the mid 70s, I don't quite no how to react to my team playing good baseball in clutch situations. But I am willing to try to get used to it.
Even with the solid play, I was still worried that the Yanks might rally, and couldn't believe it when we got the call on the Swisher HBP in the 8th. That kind of call has always seemed to go to the Yanks in the playoffs, not against them.
There is still no guarantee that Texas will win the series, but I am happy to be in this position.
yes, MLB might make more $ with a Philly-NYY or SF-NYY World Series. But Texas' run is a tremendous feel-good story given the historic mess that this franchise has been, even more so with the debacle of a sale. I know that it won't play that way in New York, but a neutral public ought to warm to this Rangers team.
Welcome back, Dean.
Texas is a very good team and probability is on their side. As much as we banter about poor Yankee decisions, ultimately wins and losses are determined by execution. The Rangers are executing better.
Enjoy it while it lasts. I also agree with you that the Rangers are a feel-good story, and I'll support them over whichever NL team the play assuming that's the case.
Dean,
It's a pleasure to have classy fans like you swing by. As I said yesterday, I have nothing but admiration for the Rangers if they pull this one out.
Truth be told, my wife's family is from Texas, and so I actually have a soft spot for the Rangers, and I'd love to see them put a hurting on whoever the National League representative in the WS is.
You all are correct in pointing out that it is the players' failures at the plate and on the mound that are costing us games, but poor play by almost the entire team is indicative of a failure of leadership. Perhaps it's just my military background, but I believe that the Manager is responsible for everything his team does and does not do. In our case this means giving up tons of runs while scoring next to none. At this point I'd much rather see Joe taking his hacks a the plate then running the team – who knows, we might see some of that Game 6 '96 magic.
[...] the Yankees have shown in the past that they can handle both hurlers well (they last saw Hunter in Game 4 of the ALCS, while they’ve hung 12 runs on Reyes across 8.1 innings this season). Unfortunately for the [...]