Kuzul

As the saying goes, if you can’t hit the baseball get the hell off the field was the theme coming into Game 5 tonight in the Bronx.

Instead, it was the New York Yankees who got the job done beating the Texas Rangers 7-2, in a must-win to stay-in the series game.

The Rangers are still ahead of Yankees 3-2 in games. If this Wednesday afternoon game is an indication of what’s to come in the next game, Texas should be running home nervous.

The Yankees flat out put the Rangers back where they belong when Cliff Lee is not pitching.

I have held to my opinion about the Rangers all season long; I do not think the Texas Rangers are as good as people think.

The Rangers have some good players like Josh Hamilton, but someone had to replace Alex Rodriguez production when he came to New York. Overall the team is just not well rounded, because without Cliff Lee, the Rangers would not be in the ALCS and maybe make the playoffs because the AL West was such a joke in 2010.

Yankees are without all-star, gold glove first baseman Mark Teixeira for the rest of the playoffs. Tex’s Yankee teammates do not crumble without him, life is not easier by any means but the Yankees are talented enough to still win. Unlike the Rangers, who without Hamilton at the end of the regular season, fell apart.

Sabathia did not have one of his smooth days on the mound, but CC grind-ed his way through six innings and held the Rangers to two earned runs. This is what defines an ace, and it is why Sabathia was brought to New York in the first place.

The pitching has not been its best for the Yankees, but the main problem seems to be fixing itself because the Bombers are hitting again. This is the first time in the ALCS that the Yankees kept the lead from the start and never gave it up all game.

Finally reality hit the Yankees who seemed to be riding the late bus to school the last two games.

The Yankees entire lineup participated in the win, with a hit, RBI, home run or a walk. It is about time that the Yankees started playing like themselves again.

Imagine if the pitching and hitting could get it together for the same game, the Rangers would not stand a chance.

Guess the Rangers will have to wait another day to try and make it to a place they have never been.

The Yankees need to continue to just be themselves, but it’s another must-win for Game 6. When the Yankees have their backs against the wall, they seem to right themselves pretty quickly.

Cliff Lee will be on the mound for the Rangers in Game 7, but let’s get through Game 6 before anyone starts to get ahead of themselves, even a lowly sports writer and die-hard fan like myself.

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The Texas Rangers lost their first ever game when attempting to clinch a pennant. On an overcast day at Yankee Stadium, it was the Yankees who fought off elimination, bringing out the bats against C.J. Wilson. This game went the Yankees’ way, the same way it had gone the Rangers’ way over the last three games.

It’s not as if the Rangers couldn’t hit CC Sabathia—they just couldn’t come through in the clutch, and after some home runs by New York, it was a 7-2 defeat for Texas in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Tomorrow will be an off-day in the series, as it shifts back to Arlington for a Game 6 on Friday and potentially Game 7 on Saturday.

The Rangers are still in the driver’s seat with Cliff Lee ready for a one-and-done Game 7 if needed.

Here’s a report card for the Rangers, breaking down what went wrong in their loss on Wednesday.

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Here lie your 2010 Minnesota Twins. April 5, 2010-October 9, 2010.

In a game that seemed inevitable, the Twins once again were swept out of the playoffs by the New York Yankees. This is the 12th straight home playoff loss for a franchise which used to flourish come October. The second longest such streak in history. Behind only the Boston Red Sox from 1980-1995 which lost 14 straight. I myself was at Target Field for both home games in the playoffs (and every playoff game since 2004). The atmosphere was great, and the crowd was optimistic for our chances against Derek Jeter and the hated Yanks. This was supposed to be our year. We were no longer the “little Twinks” who beat you with small ball and luck. We were a team sporting a new stadium, two MVP’s in the lineup and a former All-Star batting ninth. We had three, count them three closers in our bullpen with over 20 saves on the year. We had Jim Thome who hits baseballs farther then Happy Gilmore could hit a drive. We were primed for the postseason…

That’s until we got a look at those sexy pinstripes. As Christopher Walken so neatly put it in Catch Me if you Can: “Do you know why the Yankees always win the World Series? It’s because the other team can’t stop looking at the pinstripes.” And I think that’s what is happening here. The Twins were the best team in baseball since June turned over to July. Mauer had hit .379, Thome was putting dents in the flag pole in right field and the “Pavstache” was making girls drool all over the country. The Twins ran away from the White Sox and clinched the division earlier then any other team in baseball. And none of it made a difference once the Yankees showed up to Target Field last Wednesday.

Game 1 was the pivotal game here. Liriano was pitching great through five innings and had a 3-0 lead (thank you Michael Cuddyer). Then the wheels fell off. After giving up two runs already in the sixth, there were two men on for Curtis Granderson. Gardy decided to let Liriano pitch to Granderson. A triple later and the score was 4-3. I don’t blame Gardy to leave Liriano in at that point. Granderson was atrocious against lefties all season (to the tune of .234 on the season). Mijares could have come in and gotten him out, but I’m siding with Gardy on this one. Liriano is your best pitcher and best bet to get Granderson.

The game was lost in the next half inning however. The Twins loaded the bases and actually scored a run with a bases loaded walk. The next batter was retired, and the Twins left three men on base (a recurring theme in the three games). Of course, Crain comes in and leaves a hanging slider to Tex and the game is 6-4. Once No. 42 came trotting out the pen for the Yanks, game over.

Game 2 was a must win for the Twins. I wont spend much time on this because it is a week ago already. Pettitte was great. Berkman was great. Twins once again had no clutch hitting. And shockingly they lose 5-2. Ho hum. Better luck next year. Twins were not going to waltz into Yankee Stadium and win two games, then come home and win Game 5. And they didn’t. After a 6-1 loss to Phil Hughes, the season, which had such high hopes, was over.

Over the next week or so, I will go over what I think the Twins should do with their impending free agents, and who they might be able to acquire in free agency or through trades. This will be an interesting offseason, and the 2011 team will look quite different then the inaugural Target Field team.

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Where to begin?

Last night at Yankee Stadium, Bengie Molina and Josh Hamilton propelled the Texas Rangers to a 10-3 drubbing of the New York Yankees to take a three games to one lead in the ALCS.

With New York now on the brink of elimination, Game 4 could mark the final nail in the coffin for the Yankees.

There is so much to break down from this game. So many things that could’ve gone the Yankees’ way didn’t, and there were so many missed opportunities and questionable decisions.

To make it easier, let’s break the big ones down one at a time.

The Cano home run in the second inning

With no one on and one out in the second, Robinson Cano homered to right field. As Rangers OF Nelson Cruz went back on the ball, tracking it the whole way, Yankees fans in right field stood up, hoping to get themselves a souvenir. Cruz leapt, trying to make the catch, and after it went out claimed fan interference.

Looking back on the play, there were basically three fans involved. Two of them were going for the ball, while a third seemed to be going for Cruz’s glove. While the umpires wouldn’t even entertain the idea of fan interference, despite the pleading from Cruz and Texas manager Ron Washington, the question of interference is debatable.

In my opinion, this is not nearly as clear-cut as the Jeffrey Maier incident in 1996, which is drawing the comparisons. Once Cruz put his glove into the stands, whatever happens is his own fault. You can’t expect the fans to get out of the way.

Now it did seem as if one of the fans swatted at Cruz’s glove and wasn’t going for the ball at all. If that’s the case, Cruz did have a case, and the umpires should’ve taken another look. It looked like the ball was out of Cruz’s reach anyway, but if the fan intentionally went for Cruz’s glove, is that interference?

The bottom of the fourth inning

With the game tied 2-2, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out. After the Rangers made a pitching change, Brett Gardner came up against Derek Holland. Gardner hit a well-struck ball into the hole at short that Elvis Andrus made a diving stop on to nail Cano at third. A-Rod scored the go-ahead run, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead, but Andrus’ play killed any chance the Yankees had for a bigger inning.

If Andrus can’t make that play, Cano might have scored from second, or at least the bases would’ve stayed loaded. Instead, Cano was the second out, and Francisco Cervelli, starting in place of Jorge Posada, struck out to end the inning. That play would loom large because in the sixth inning…

The Molina home run

Yankee manager Joe Girardi’s decision to give the struggling A.J. Burnett the start in Game 4 was met with a lot of criticism. Enough has already been said about “should he” or “shouldn’t he,” so we won’t get into that. He did, end of story. But the bigger question is why Girardi left Burnett in the game as long as he did.

In the top of the sixth, Nelson Cruz singled and took second base on a fly ball off the bat of Ian Kinsler. At this point, Girardi should’ve pulled Burnett. Joba Chamberlain was already warmed up and ready to come in. Burnett had only given up two runs and would’ve been able to leave the game to cheering from the fans.

Instead, Girardi chose not only to leave Burnett in the game, but to also put the go-ahead run on base by intentionally walking David Murphy. Okay, so now he makes the move to Chamberlain, right? Wrong.

Burnett was left in the game to pitch to Bengie Molina, who proceeded to crush a three-run homer to left field, giving Texas the 5-3 lead and sending Burnett to the showers. As soon as the ball left Molina’s bat, Alex Rodriguez put his hands on his knees and dropped his head. Even beneath the mask, you could see Cervelli’s reaction.

This was by far the dumbest decision Girardi has made this entire postseason and will probably come to symbolize the Yankees’ play if they lose the series.

We all know the rest of the story. The Yankee bullpen would implode again, this time to the tune of five runs, all earned, on seven hits. In the seventh, Yankee reliever Boone Logan gave up the first of Josh Hamilton’s two home runs; the other came in the ninth inning off Sergio Mitre. Mitre would also cough up a two-run homer to Nelson Cruz for good measure.

The Yankee fans who had the stomach to stay till the end would see a 10-3 final score and find the Yankees in shambles, on the verge of elimination.

Tonight, they’ll try to stay alive with CC Sabathia on the mound. They’ll have to do it, however, without first baseman Mark Teixeira, who went down with a hamstring injury in the fifth inning and has already been ruled out for the rest of the postseason should the Yankees make it any further.

It’s going to be a tall order to not only win tonight, but also get the series to a seventh game. Even if they manage to do it, the Yankees will have to face Cliff Lee…again.

Make no mistake—if the Yankees are eliminated tonight, the fans are going to look at last night’s Game 4 with disgust. Whatever or whoever you choose to blame, there is plenty to choose from and really no wrong choice.

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In a press conference the other day, Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel said his team really hasn’t hit since the first half of last season. Well, the man knows his team and knows what he is talking about.

Since the start of the second half last and including this year’s postseason, the Phillies have hit .245 as a team. Things only got worse for the Philly batters in Game 3 of the NLCS.

San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain completely shut down the Phillies for seven innings, and Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson finished the job as the Giants beat the Phillies 3-0 to take a 2-1 series lead in their best-of-seven NLCS.

Cain pitched seven strong innings allowing just two hits, no runs, three walks and struck out five in the 119-pitch effort. Was Cain “Oh my god” great? No, he wasn’t, but he was good enough.

Out of his 119 pitches, only 69 of them were strikes, so his ball-to-strike ratio was almost 1-to-1. He also pegged Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino. Not too impressive, but Cain used a combination of four-seem fastballs, changeups and sliders to keep the Phillies’ hitters at bay.

The key for Cain in this game was the above mentioned changeup. It was as good as it gets today for Cain. He threw 30 changeups, and 14 of them were for strikes.

The key? He kept it down. Here is his pitch type plot courtesy of the PitchFX tool…

The changeups are in yellow, and Cain did an outstanding job all afternoon of keeping the change down, so when the Philly batters did hit the ball, it was on the ground.

Cain now hasn’t allowed a run in two postseason starts.

Here are some other observations from Game 3…

The way Cole Hamels went through the first nine batters, I thought he would throw a perfect game today. Nine up and nine down, and the Giants looked completely overmatched early.

The Pat Burrell walk with two outs in the fourth was a killer. Burrell walks and then Cody Ross singles, then Aubrey Huff singled, and just like that, the Giants were up 2-0.

Ross has a 1.444 OPS this series. Just sayin’.

The Phillies won’t win this series if Chase Utley continues to play like he is playing. His error in the fifth that led to the Giants’ third run was a back breaker, and he is batting .100 in this series at the plate.

How bad is Jimmy Rollins hurting right now? The guy couldn’t make it to second on a ball hit to the right field wall in the ninth. Granted the ball was scorched, but a healthy Rollins makes it to second on that hit.

Manuel is making the right decision to go with Joe Blanton in Game 4. Even if they lose, the Phillies will have Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Hamels on full rest for the final three games of the series. I will take my chances with those three down the stretch.

Wilson is locked in right now. 2.1 IP and 5 K’s.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at 7:57 PM est.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Do I really need to say anything or can I just SMILE!

I’ll touch on a couple things:

Yankee “Home Runs”

In the second inning—easy one first—Berkman’s was not a home run, no doubt about that. Not sure what the umpire was watching there, but whatever. It was a foul, and instant replay clearly showed it. However, two batters before, Robby Cano hit a deep fly ball that Yankee “bleacher creatures” assisted out for the home run. 

Here’s my problem—and I can quote the MLB Official Rulebook, if necessary—that play should have been reviewed. Not a doubt in my mind on that. And had the umpires reviewed it and still decided to call it a home run, I would not have been happy, but I would have been “cool with it.” 

My opinion is that the fans obviously interfered with it, but I have watched it too many times. From my vantage point, if you completely remove the fans, the ball might have just been out of Cruz’s reach. However, we will never know, and if that’s what New York needs to keep “home-field advantage,” so be it…because I know for a fact had that been Arlington and a Rangers home run, it would have been reviewed. 

Unsung Hero of the Game

Derek Holland!!! Hello, 3.2 innings pitched in relief of Hunter. He allowed one hit, three Ks, zero runs and only the one inherited runner scored. Very impressive with the young man, even with the TBS announcers telling us he had a “nervous smile,” obviously y’all were wrong…again! 

So happy that Dutch was in the game for all the run-pounding and able to maintain long enough to be the winning pitcher. Before the game there was talk of starting Holland over Hunter in Game 4. If Texas moves on to the World Series, we may very well see that now.

Texas Offense

Apparently the Yankees are slow learners. In Game 3 on Monday they intentionally walked David Murphy to face Bengie Molina—righty vs. righty. Bengie thanked them for that with an RBI single amidst the six-run ninth inning. Last night, they did the same thing in the sixth with two outs. And almost as though on cue coming back from the TBS highlights of his HRs in Games 1, 2 and 3 in the 2005 ALDS against the Yankees, BENGIE goes yard. 

To wrap up another offensive explosion we got to witness DOUBLE BOOMSTICK (not Double Rainbow) from the soon-to-be 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton and then a shot from NC-17, none of which were fan-assisted.

In the end the bullpen pulled their weight in a game that we all knew they would have to be strong in for Texas to have a chance. In his 3.1 innings Hunter allowed three runs, in the remaining 5.2 innings the bullpen threw zero after zero after zero. Though the eighth inning got a little nerve-racking, no runs came across. The Rangers slammed the door for good by adding three runs in the ninth behind home runs from Hamilton and Cruz.

Media Bias

I will say that I am getting quite annoyed with the constant attempts by the TBS announcers to justify the pitching performances by Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. I have heard quite enough comments about Pettitte and that he was one pitch away (Hamilton two-run home run) from matching Cliff Lee’s performance. 

NO HE WASN’T!!! 

Look, Pettitte pitched a very good game and more times than not his performance would have been good enough to get a win. But his final line was seven IP, five hits, two runs (both earned), zero walks and five Ks on 110 pitches—again solid numbers. 

BUT…

Cliff Lee: eight IP, two hits, zero runs, one walk and 13 Ks on 122 pitches. Sorry, that is not one pitch away from matching performances. 

And then in Game 4 the announcers tried to justify that Burnett pitched a good game except for one mistake. Through five innings he did pitch well and kept the Ranger bats at bay, but this is a nine-inning game, not five. And in the sixth he didn’t make the pitch he had to make and Bengie blasted a three-run homer.

New Yorkers and a bulk of the East Coast media may not want to admit it, but face facts: the Rangers are one game away from moving on, and the Rangers have outscored the Yankees 30-11 (30-6 if you take out the eighth inning of Game 1). If it weren’t for that eighth inning, this series would now be over in a four-game sweep. Right now the Rangers are flat-out pummeling the Yanks in every aspect of the game, no ifs, ands or buts about that. 

Enjoy it, love it and now store it in your memory because the party ain’t over and the excitement we feel right now is all for not if the Rangers don’t finish the job. Yes, we are up three games to one, we have C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and then Cliff Lee all going on regular or extra rest. But the Yankees are still the defending champs and until we polish them completely off, I will not allow myself to celebrate even the slightest. Finish the job!

The mindset is right so far, and the players are still saying the right things, so we need to go into today’s game expecting to close it out. We need to act like the series is tied. And we need to continue to play like this Yankees team can come back. Because if the eighth inning of Game 1 taught us anything, it’s that if you give this Yanks team the opportunity, they will come back.

I’ll leave you now, not too far away from Game 5, with the quotes that have been constantly on my mind throughout this entire postseason run:

“It’s amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares about who gets credit.”—Blanton Collier

“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”—Joe Paterno

“Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players.  I picked the guys with less talent, but who were willing to work hard, who had the desire to be great.”—Earvin “Magic” Johnson

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When Texas Rangers catcher and eighth-place hitter Bengie Molina turned on an inside pitch from New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J Burnett in the sixth inning, all Alex Rodriguez could do was hang his head.

Catcher Francisco Cervelli was similarly dismayed, and Burnett was also in disbelief, with a “What have I done?” reaction.

Molina and his teammates in the dugout watched the ball’s flight, a majestic curvature into the left field seats, and after taking the few minutes necessary to run the bases, Molina pumped his chest and yelped a jubilant cry as high fives awaited him in the dugout.

The three-run blast with two outs gave the Rangers a 5-3 lead and capped off a nightmarish half-hour of baseball for New York.

In the fifth inning, everything appeared to be in the Yankees’ favor. Burnett had thrown five solid innings, and New York, ahead by one, was threatening with two on and none out. Mark Teixeira was up, their struggling power hitter who has made up for his misgivings at the plate with stellar defense at first.

On a 2-1 pitch from a laboring Tommy Hunter, he grounded a ball to Michael Young at third, who stepped on the bag and fired to first. Teixeira sprinted down the line as the ball closed in on Mitch Moreland’s glove, but then not 10 feet from the bag he reached for his hamstring. He fell into a slide, yelping in pain.

Accompanied by the team doctor and manager Joe Girardi, he hobbled off the field. Yankees Stadium was silent, as they would remain for most of the final four-plus innings.

Though he was safe, and though the Yankees were putting together quite a promising inning with two on and one out, the life was sucked out of the stadium when he went down. A strained hamstring was later the prognosis, and New York is considering adding Eduardo Nuñez to the roster, thereby making Teixeira ineligible to return, not only in this series, but also in the World Series if they advance.

Texas added insult to this injury just by putting runners on against Burnett in the sixth. The crowd groaned; the little confidence they had in Burnett was fading. Vladimir Guerrero led off with a single but was erased on a force-out grounded into by Nelson Cruz. Cruz made amends, changing the game with one play that will most likely be under-appreciated in some recaps.

Ian Kinsler lifted a deep fly ball to center, and what does Cruz do? The 6’4″, 240-pound, deceptively quick right fielder (who was the victim of Jeffrey Maier-esque interference in the second inning) tagged up and headed to second. This forced an odd decision out of Girardi, who elected to intentionally walk Burnett’s nemesis, David Murphy, to pitch to Molina. The move clearly backfired.

Derek Holland, the Rangers’ prized 24-year-old left-hander who had relieved Hunter much earlier, proceeded to add to the Yankees’ misery by pitching two scoreless innings. Despite his excellence and the depressing atmosphere, New York still had a shot to come back. Their chances, though, were hurt severely by a case of déjà vu for their bullpen.

Last night, the Rangers broke a two-run game wide-open in the ninth by scoring six runs, five of which were charged to David Robertson. On this night, Robertson was the only Yankee reliever not to allow a run.

Before Holland pitched his second straight perfect inning, Josh Hamilton continued his ALCS brilliance. Their best power hitter, who managed to swing weakly in Game 3 and still hit it out to right, put together a much more powerful swing against Boone Logan, a high drive that landed a few rows up in the same vicinity.

It was his third blast of the series, it darkened the Yankees’ outlook and it wasn’t even close to being the final run Texas would muster.

Joba Chamberlain, who may not be with the team next year given his performance this season, followed Logan and continued to pitch ineffectively. His outing began by allowing a ringing double by Guerrero, and then he walked Cruz and let the seventh Rangers run score as Michael Young proceeded to single. The boo birds were out. Some fans had already left. Others were now joining them in the streets of New York.

Texas just wouldn’t quit. After escaping a tough bases-loaded, one-out situation in the bottom of the eighth, their bats made the Yankees pay for not coming through as they did in the same inning of Game 1.

Hamilton was once again in the middle of it, smacking his fourth homer of the series, this time off Sergio Mitre and this time into the bullpen in right—his fourth homer in as many games. Then, after Guerrero socked his third hit, Cruz crushed a lifeless fastball into the second deck in left. It was now 10-3. The couple thousand fans who were left could go home now.

The Yankees players may join them soon enough. In losing, New York fell behind 3-1 in this series; they need to win their next three to move on. But just like a miracle is needed for Teixeira to return, the Bronx Bombers need a miracle if they want to prolong this one-sided battle—and just as Teixeira’s immediate future is in doubt, so are New York’s chances of accomplishing their yearly expectation.

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A.J. Burnett was pitching well until Bengie Molina sent the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning into the left field seats for a three-run homer and a 5-3 lead, one the Rangers would never relinquish en route to a 10-3 victory in Game 4 and a 3-1 American League Championship Series lead.

I don’t have any problem with manager Joe Girardi leaving Burnett in to face Molina. After all, up to that point, the right-hander had allowed just two runs on five hits over five-and-two-thirds innings and had thrown fewer than 100 pitches. Is that really a line that screams “take him out?”

He just made a bad pitch.

However, the decision to intentionally walk David Murphy right before Molina is somewhat curious. It’s certainly not the worst move Girardi has ever made, but why put the go-ahead run on base for a guy who has killed the Yankees over the years and was 2-for-6 (.333) lifetime off Burnett, including a single in the previous inning?

Murphy was 0-for-1 on the night and 5-for-18 (.278) in his career against the Yankees starter, and if he hits a homer there, it’s only a one-run deficit instead of two.

But Girardi’s decision making and Burnett’s bad pitch to Molina weren’t the only reasons New York got blown out. The Yankees have scored just 11 runs in this series and once again failed in the clutch on Tuesday, going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position while stranding eight runners.

Here are the grades from the Game 4 loss in the Bronx.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (C-) With runners on first and second and nobody out in the third, Ron Washington had Mitch Moreland lay down a sacrifice bunt. Yankees fans were probably aghast at such a move so early in a game, but it was the right call and led to the tying run being scored when the next batter, Elvis Andrus, grounded out to first. The bunt actually led to two runs because the next man, Michael Young, reached on an infield single when Alex Rodriguez double clutched and Molina scored.

With runners on first and second and nobody out in the fourth, the Yankees found themselves in the same situation. Up next was Nick Swisher, who is hitting .067 this series, but Girardi did not have him bunt. Instead, the right fielder struck out swinging and the baserunners could not advance. New York did scratch out a run that inning, but it could’ve been more if they had played small ball.

In the following frame, the Yanks found themselves in the same situation once again. This time, Mark Teixeira was up with two on and nobody out. Well, you can’t have Teixeira bunt. Or can you? If David Ortiz can lay one down once in a while, certainly Teixeira can, especially if he enters the at-bat 0-for-13 in the series. Instead, the first baseman grounded into a forceout at third, got injured on the play and A-Rod followed with an inning-ending double play.

I’ve written this countless times, but it bears repeating: If your offense is struggling, isn’t it a good idea to try to score by using bunts, steals and hit-and-runs instead of just sitting back and waiting for a three-run homer all the time?

The Yankees have put 41 men on base during this series and have stolen just one bag and laid down no successful sac bunts. The Rangers, on the other hand, have seven steals and three sac bunts.

Derek Jeter, SS: (A) The captain doubled, tripled and scored a run.

Curtis Granderson, CF: (A-) Granderson drove in a run with an infield single in the third and walked twice.

Mark Teixeira, 1B: (D-) Teixeira went 0-for-3 with a strikeout but did make a nice pick on Andrus’ RBI grounder to first in the third. He strained his right hamstring running down the first-base line in the fifth and will probably be lost for the remainder of the postseason. Girardi indicated after the game that the team will probably call up Eduardo Nunez. Despite Teixeira’s struggles at the plate, this is obviously a tremendous loss for an offense that has been sputtering.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (C) A-Rod went 0-for-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a run scored. After a tremendous postseason last year, Rodriguez is just 5-for-31 (.161) during these playoffs.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A+) Cano has been the only bright spot for the Yankees in the ALCS. In the second inning, he hit his third homer of the series, a controversial shot that appeared to land over the wall; however, fans did make contact with right fielder Nelson Cruz’s glove. Either way, it’s ludicrous that the play was not reviewed.

Nick Swisher, RF-1B: (F) Swisher went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is now 11-for-74 (.149) over the past two postseasons.

Lance Berkman, DH: (C) Berkman singled and struck out in four at-bats. He also missed a home run by the slimmest of margins when his second-inning drive barely missed the right-field foul pole and was correctly reversed to be called a foul ball upon review.

Brett Gardner, LF: (C+) Gardner was 1-for-4 and knocked in a run with a forceout in the fourth.

Francisco Cervelli, C: (D) Cervelli correctly got the start because Burnett has far better numbers throwing to Cervelli than Jorge Posada. Cervelli was 0-for-2 at the plate and 0-for-2 throwing out base stealers.

Marcus Thames, PR-RF: (INC) Thames pinch-ran for Teixeira and struck out in his only at-bat.

Jorge Posada, PH-C: (INC) Posada pinch-hit for Cervelli in the seventh and struck out. He finished 0-for-2.

A.J. Burnett, SP: (D) Burnett was turning in a B+ effort until that one bad pitch to Molina, but five runs over six innings isn’t going to get the job done. It was still the correct decision to start Burnett in this game instead of forcing CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte to pitch on three days’ rest before Sabathia would have to do it again in a possible Game 7.

David Robertson, RP: (B+) Over the past two nights, Robertson has faced nine batters and Mariano Rivera has faced none.

Boone Logan, RP: (F) Logan’s only job is to get Josh Hamilton out. Hamilton doubled off him in Game 3 and homered off him in Game 4.

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (F) These are the guys people wanted Girardi to bring in for Burnett in the sixth?

Sergio Mitre, RP: (F) It’s a good thing Girardi didn’t have Rivera pitch the ninth inning of Game 3, so that he could pitch two innings in Game 4.

Yankees Overall Grade: (D) The Yanks have reached the point they didn’t want to reach. They now know that they must beat Cliff Lee in order to win the ALCS. But let’s take it one game at a time. New York should be able to extend the series with its best pitcher on the mound Wednesday, and then it needs its lineup to come alive in support of Hughes in Game 6. It ain’t over til it’s over, but the Yankees must start hitting.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison. Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report’s New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com

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The Texas Rangers have embarrassed the New York Yankees in the Bronx over the last two days and are on the verge of a pennant.

The Yankees sent A.J. Burnett to the mound, hoping to even the ALCS at two games apiece but one pitch doomed him and his team.

The Rangers’ Tommy Hunter didn’t do a bad job but didn’t last long, leaving it to reliever Derek Holland to get the job done.

Texas scored a little early and a lot late, eventually putting the Yankees away and taking a 3-1 series lead. Here’s a report card breaking down the Rangers’ 10-3 win on Tuesday night.

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Even knowing the Texas Rangers had Cliff Lee on the mound, the New York Yankee fans arrived at the game ready for a win and made it loud and clear

That dream became a nightmare pretty fast, as Lee brought his A-plus game once again and the Rangers won 8-0.

So, instead fans left confused, discouraged and embarrassed. Below are the three dilemmas I had, after freezing my butt off in the Bronx:

1. Everyone was confused by Joe Girardi’s decision not to use Mariano Rivera for the last three outs. The hope was to hold the Rangers at two runs through the ninth. In turn, that would give the Yankee batters a chance at the bottom of the ninth inning to maybe get back in the mix.

What happened was embarrassing, as Texas scored six more runs mainly off sloppy fielding mistakes by New York. With Texas up 8-0, any hope of a comeback was just too far out of reach.

Up to this point, Girardi had used Mo in all five postseason games and one would think to go with the best you have to offer. Especially considering the Yankees are the comeback kids and Lee’s pitch count was already in the mid-120, which is why it made no sense. Maybe Girardi forgot this was a playoff game?

2. Why the game was so discouraging is that Andy Pettitte pitched solid as a rock after giving up a first inning home run to Josh Hamilton. Pettitte put the Yankees in the position to win posting five strikeouts and walking zero batters.

In order to win, teams have to score runs, and Pettitte got no insurance whatsoever. Pettitte deserved a win, but his performance was not overshadowed by the loss as every fan at the Stadium cheered for the southpaw big time.

3. Did the umpires loss the game for the Yankees? Well, there was definitely one questionable call that might have made the difference. Not taking away from the surreal performance by Lee because with 13 strikeouts and not a run scoring surely can stand on its own.

The call is now a confirmed a mistake made by first-base umpire Angel Hernandez in the bottom of the third inning. Umpire Hernandez called Brett Gardner out when the replay tells a different tale. Gardner hit a blooper and slid into first, which might have been more out of habit for Gardner who might have been safe on his feet too.

Regardless, he was clearly safe and not a whimper from Girardi at all. Pathetic for a manager not to get out there and defend his player.

There was one other call that again favored Texas, when Michael Young was a foot from the bag when Teixeira had already scooped the ball up.

This was not what Yankees fans came too see. Ultimately most fans knew that it was going to take a semi-miracle to beat Lee if his current pitching postseason trend stayed on target, but who knew it would be a bull’s-eye.

Yankees will send AJ Burnett to the mound Tuesday night, which is scary to think about considering how awful Burnett has been. Burnett has an opportunity to become a New York hero in Game 4, as we know he has the stuff to be lights-out, so let’s hope Burnett has found it.

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