Texas Rangers’ ace Cliff Lee has had a dominant career and deserves a World Series title. He has pitched great this season, with a 12-9 record and a 3.18 ERA.
Lee barely missed a World Series title last season with Philadelphia, and was traded in the offseason to Seattle. Earlier this year, he was traded to the Rangers to help them win a title.
Today, Lee had quite a dominating performance in Texas’ 5-1 win, pitching seven innings while only allowing five hits and one run. Lee has been so close to winning a title, but he must get through the Rays first.
With the Rangers lineup. they have the opportunity to go deep into the playoffs, but will they? First they have to get through Tampa Bay.
The Rays’ pitching has been pretty stellar throughout the year. They are ranked third in quality starts by pitchers with 95, and they are ranked eighth in ERA at 3.78. For the Rangers to defeat them, they must be able to get hits.
This series should be a great matchup because the Rangers are one of the best hitting teams in the league. They are the best team in baseball in batting average, at a stellar .276 as a team. They are also ranked fifth in runs with 787, sixth in on-base percentage at .338, and ninth in slugging percentage with .419.
With the Rays and the Rangers having such great teams overall, and both having stellar pitching staffs, it’s going to be tough for Lee to win a World Series this year. The Rays have proven to be clutch, and it will be hard to defeat them since they have home-field advantage.
Although Cliff Lee has proven himself as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball, and has proven he deserves a World Series title, that doesn’t mean he will get one. However, Texas will win the ALDS, 3-2.
Will Cliff Lee get his title this season, or will he still be searching for one in 2011?
James Evens is a Purdue student and Basketball/Football Featured Columnist for the Boilermakers, along with being a Writing Intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
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