After a day off, the ALCS resumes at Rangers Stadium where Texas will host New York in a pivotal Game 6 matchup. Phil Hughes (1-1, 5.73 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees against the Rangers Colby Lewis (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
Hughes and Lewis pitched against each other in Game 2. In that game, Hughes was hit hard, giving up 10 hits and seven earned runs in four innings in a historically poor performance. Lewis, on the other hand, gave up just six hits and two earned runs through 5.2 innings. Both bullpens then threw shutouts, and the Rangers took the game 7-2. Lewis received the win, and Hughes the loss.
Much more is riding on this Game 6 than game two though, as the the Yankees will try to quell the Rangers World Series hopes for at least one more game and avoid heading back to New York disappointed.
The Yankees were outplayed for all but one inning in their shaky game on victory. They followed up with three straight games of poor hitting and poor pitching, losing the three games by a combined score of 25-5. But the bats came back and C.C.’s arm gave New York a resurgence in a 7-2 game five win to get the series back to 3-2.
The Rangers starting rotation looked really strong, anchored by another dominant performance by Cliff Lee. Also, the offense tagged the ball hard and often, with Josh Hamilton showing why he may be the AL MVP. Minus the eighth inning in Game 1, they totally dominated the Yankees until faltering in a big way in Game 5.
I guess the question for tonight will be: Can the Yankees continue the success they found on offense and defense in Game 5? Or will the Rangers come back with the dominance they had for four games? Tune in at 8:07 on TBS to find out.
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