Rays or Rangers? The choice is yours

Tonight at the Trop the Rays and Rangers battle to see who will face the Yankees in the ALCS. As a Yankees fan you hope that Cliff Lee and David Price throw over 100 pitches, and the game goes 18 innings. But who matches up better for the Yankees?

The Rays and Rangers can both hit, but the Rays have struck out almost 300 more times then the Rangers as a team. Both teams are made of power and speed, but the Rays have stolen close to 50 bases more then the Rangers. The teams are equal in home runs, with the Rangers having just two more, but batting average is an east win for the Rangers who have hit .29 points better then the Rays. The Rays do draw more walks, and the teams have similar on base percentages.

Now aside from stats both teams do have thier share of scary hiitters. The Rangers have Josh Hamilton who could easily be the MVP, Vlad Guerrero who the Yankees have seen and been hurt by numerous times while with the Angels.Texas also has a pair of all star sluggers in Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler who may not have the best stats this season, due to injury but are both major threats.

The Rays on the other hand have a perfect mix of speed and power. Carl Crawford is a perfect example of a guy that can hit one out, but at the same time could get on base and steal with ease. Evan Longoria had another great season, but has been banged up over the end of the season. Carlos Pena has had the worst season of his career, and Ben Zobrist fell back to form. But the Rays as a team each contribute, and the key for the Yankees if they face them is to keep them off base, because with Posada behind the plate the Rays will run all over, it doesnt help that many of the Yanks pitchers dont hold runners on.

Pitching the teams are very similar, both are full of young arms and have a lefty ace. But the Rangers have the better starting staff, with four starters having ERA's below four. The Rays have a slight advantage with experience since many of the starters are the same ones that helped the Rays make it to the 2008 Postseason. The Rangers do have Cliff Lee, but he is the only pitcher other then Darren Oliver to have experience.

The bullpens are again very similar, although the Rays may have a slight advantage since Rafael Soriano is a stronger closer then Neftali Feliz, who has a higher WHIP. Again the bullpen's are very similar, but the Rays have a bit more expereince.

Both teams had great season's and its understandable. They both can hit and pitch and rely on youth. The youth could help a team, but the inexperince could also hurt. I think that tonight the Rays are going to pull out a win at home, but the Yankees should be aware of facing them. I do believe that the Yankees dont care either way who they face and will be prepared no matter what, but of the two teams I feel the Rangers match up better cause of the lack of experience.

Looking back at 2009 Postseason

Cant wait for the ALCS to get started already, would love to see a 2010 Postseason montage just like this one of 2009.

2010 ALDS review : Yankees over Twins in 3

Last night the Yankees finished off the Twins, and are one more step closer towards the goal of as always, winning the World Series. But the Yankees will need to continue to play the way they did against the Twins, since they will have a tough match up in either the Rays or Rangers. But before we move on to the next series, lets review the last one.


The Good

• Curtis Granderson had a nice three games going 5-11 (.455) while driving in three runs. Granderson had a clutch triple in game one and seemed to be in the middle of a few rallies.
• He only hit .286 but Derek Jeter, had good at bats and hit the ball hard a few times, just right at the fielders.
• Lance Berkman was irrationally disliked by Yankee fans because he got off to a slow start but in game 2, had a pair of clutch hits.
• The hitting in general was great, it was a team effort all around, and all players contributed. Only one batter hit below .273, and that was Brett Gardner (.200)
• What happened to those question marks behind CC Sabathia ? Andy and Hughes came up big for the Yankees. Hughes was lights out in game three, pitching seven shut out innings , while Pettitte gave seven strong innings of two run ball in game two.
• Mariano Rivera is just so good, doesn't matter that he struggled in September.

The Bad

• It is hard to find issues when the Yankees just outplayed the Twins, but their excellent play could come back to burn them. The Yankees now have to wait six days between games, of course rest is always a plus, and the Yanks can set the rotation, but they were playing great baseball and never want to see the momentum broken up.
• CC struggled on a few extra days rest, of course I have the most faith in Sabathia , but he will have to wait an awful long time again before his next start.
• Kerry Wood looked shaky in the bullpen. His command is always an issue, but he did give up a few hits. The only thing I was upset about in game three was that Girardi brought him into a 6-1 game, and then Wood struggled. The last thing they want to do is hurt his confidence after he was so good.
• Joba Chamberlain didn't pitch in a single game,and I cant even remember him warming up once. David Robertson only pitched .2 innings.

Yankees sweep the Twins away, move on to ALCS

After winning the first two games of the series on the road the Yankees came home to a loud crowd Saturday night and finished off the Twins.

Much was made about the question marks in the Yankees rotation following CC Sabathia. Well ironically, Sabathia struggled in his first start, but was still able to pitch well enough to earn himself a victory, but Pettitte and Hughes out pitched him.

The Yanks bats contributed, in all three victories. Derek Jeter looked to be back to old October form, while Curtis Granderson had a nice series in his Yankees playoff debut.

The Yankees will now have to wait six days until they play again Friday night, when they will be the visiting team.
Make sure you check back tomorrow as the ALDS report card will be released to wrap up the series. Until then just eight more victories until the Yankees accomplish the mission for title 28.

Girardi always over manages...

Girardi, should have left that rookie in! I mean the last thing the Yankees need is for Rivera to be over worked (Possibly in the bathroom if its Taco Bell ).

Round one resurgence : Two down one to go

The Twins would once again score first, but the Yankees would be the team that would once again have the last laugh. In game two of the 2010 ALDS the Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound. The start was surrounded by question marks, he had three starts since his return from the DL and had an ERA of 6.75. But Andy showed up once again in the big stage, pitching seven inning while giving up just two runs.

Curtis Granderson had a productive night going 3-4 while Lance Berkman had two clutch hits. His first was an absolute Lazar to left center that left the yard and gave the Yankees the lead. His second clutch hit would come with the score tied at two, Berkman stepped to the plate, and after a question pitch that was called a ball , Berkman slashed a double to left center to score Jorge Posada.

Its great to see Berkman who had struggled during his time with the Yankees this season come through in clutch spots in the Postseason. Fans had been losing patients in the switch hitter, but with a few postseason hits all can be quieted.

Pettitte on the other hand showed that he is healthy and still able to get the job done when it mattered. This game was significant for the Yanks since they are unsure what they are about to get out of Phil Hughes when they return home for game 3. It also locks up the fact that if the Yankees do advance that they know that they will have at least to pitchers they can rely on. With the victory tonight Andy has a total of 19 Postseason wins, and although people may argue that he has done it over three rounds of playoffs it is still an impressive stat.

So who is tonight's player of the game in the Yankees 5-2 win ? Well it would've easy to say Andy Pettitte, but Lance Berkman also deserves credit for getting a pair of go ahead hits. They both deserve credit for the Yanks victory so they are the co-players of the game.

One game down, two to go. Yanks win 6-4

Tex and the Yankees roll in game one against the Twins. Some big moments include Curtis Granderson hitting a go ahead triple,and Mariano Rivera getting out of a bases loaded jam in the 8th. But the team hero last night was Mark Teixeira who gave the Yankees the lead after CC blew the previous one. Tex struggled last postseason, so lets hope game one is a sign that Tex is primed for a big postseason.