The New York Yankees offense finally got in sync keeping their World Series dreams alive and sending the ALCS back
to Texas after a 7-2 win in Game Five that narrowed the Rangers ALCS lead to 3-2.
The Yankees got on the board in the second inning against Texas Rangers starter C.J. Wilson with two walks, two singles and throwing error by Jeff Francoeur.
The following inning the Yankees added more runs when Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano hit back-to-back homeruns.
Lance Berkman, filling in for the injured Mark Teixeria, went 0-2 but had a walk, run scored and RBI in the game. The Yankees added insurance runs against Wilson in the sixth and against the Rangers bullpen in the eighth when Curtis Granderson hit a solo homerun.
On the night, Wilson allowed six runs (five earned) in just five innings. His counterpart, CC Sabathia, didn’t dominate the Rangers lineup but ultimately got the job done.
On the night, the Rangers outhit the Yankees 13-9 (including three hits from Elvis Andrus) but didn’t draw any walks and were largely unable to capitalize on scoring chances. They scored a run apiece in the fifth and sixth inning off Sabathia, and were shut down by Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera in the late innings.
Sabathia’s final line was two earned runs and 11 hits allowed in six innings pitched. However, he didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven batters, which helped him keep runs from scoring despite having men on base all night.
The loss tonight was the first time the Rangers had fallen on the road this postseason. So far, they are just 1-3 at home, where they will need to take one of two from the Yankees to advance to the World Series.
Game Six will be Friday Night at 8:00 PM (ET) and will pit Phil Hughes against the Ranger Colby Lewis. The two pitchers faced off in Game Two of the series, and the Rangers offense knocked Hughes around and led a 7-2 victory over the Yankees.
Used with permission of the author.
Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.
Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC