Overanxious Rangers blow five run lead, ninth inning opportunity, split series with Yankees. Marcus Thames (above, right) knocked in the game winning run in the top of the ninth. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)With a 6-1 lead after the fifth inning and Cliff Lee cruising on the mound, a win and two-game sweep over the New York Yankees (70-43) seemed imminent for the up-and-coming Texas Rangers (65-48). That simply wasn't the case, however, as both the Rangers pitching staff and hitters crumbled under the Texas heat.
"The whole game, we were where we wanted to be. We just couldn't stop them from the sixth inning on," manager Ron Washington said. "We got their closer last night. They got ours tonight."
Neftali Feliz (L, 3-3) came into the game having converted 20 save chances in a row, but hadn't pitched in a save situation since July 31. Feliz, after throwing 21 pitches the night before, walked the first batter, then gave up a single to Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner before throwing a wild pitch and allowing a ground-ball-with-eyes to Yankees' shortstop Derek Jeter. The ball bounced straight up off the ground near the front of the plate, over Feliz' glove and under the glove of the charging Christian Guzman. This scored Yankees' outfielder Curtis Granderson, whom Feliz walked to start the inning. Alexi Ogando then came into the game, immediately allowing a single to Marcus Thames as the Yankees took their first lead of the night at 7-6. Thames also hit a solo homer in the eighth to bring the Yankees to within one run, and was the best Yankees hitter on the night; finishing the game having gone 3 for 5 with three RBI.
Even after the Yankee comeback, Texas still had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the ninth to at least tie the score at 7-all. Elvis Andrus led off the inning with a triple into the gap in right-center field, rounding first base with such ferocity and speed that his helmet fell off in the process, as it seemed the Rangers were poised to foil another save opportunity for Mariano Rivera.
Over-aggressiveness on the part of the Rangers hitters was their undoing, however, as Rivera needed only three more pitches to get out of the inning for his 24th save of the season. Micheal Young swung at the first pitch he saw, popping out to swallow right field with Austin Kearns sprinting in to make the snow-cone catch. Josh Hamilton swung on a 2-0 pitch, weakly grounding out back to the pitcher. The grand-finale saw the slumping Vladimir Guerrero swing on the second pitch he saw, grounding out to Yankees third-baseman Alex Rodriguez to end the game.
The fact that it even got to that point is something the Rangers will have trouble digesting on their day off tomorrow. Texas roughed up Yankees' starter Javier Vazquez to the tune of six runs on eight hits in only 4 1-3 innings. The Rangers got it's first run of the game on the shortest home run ever hit at the Ballpark in Arlington, a 334 foot shot that barely nicked the bottom of the foul pole. This paired with a couple of two-run singles from David Murphy and Mitch Moreland and a double by Hamilton that scored a run made up the Rangers' offensive attack. The only problem was Texas was done scoring by the end of the fifth inning. Yankees' relievers allowed only three more hits over the final 4 2-3 innings of the game.
On the mound, Lee seemed to be in control, striking out 10 Yankees batters through the first six innings while allowing only two runs up to that point. Things changed quickly in the top of the seventh, however, and Lee found himself exiting the field after allowing two doubles, two singles and two more runs sandwiching a strikeout of Yankees' catcher Jorge Posada. Lee finished the game having allowed four runs on eight hits with 11 strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings. It's the first time since May 21 (14 starts) that Lee has gone less than seven innings in a game, and only the second time all season long.
Even though, looking back at the end of the season, a split with the Yankees in August is nice, this is an embarrassing loss for the Rangers. On national television the team's Ace got knocked around for 6 1-3 innings, the bullpen completely imploded, and the Rangers' best hitters looked nervous and impatient at the plate with the game on the line. This while in the process of coughing up a five-run lead in a game they should have won. Not good, but these two teams will meet again for a three-game set in mid-September and Texas lives to fight another day.
Texas gets a day off Thursday before the Boston Red Sox come into town for a three-game series starting Friday night.
News and Notes:
- Vladimir Guerrero's slump continues. The Rangers' designated hitter hasn't done much hitting lately, having gone 2 for his last 18 over the past five games with no RBI over that time. As a result, his batting average has dipped under .300 (.296) for the first time since opening day.
- On the flip side, David Murphy has been on fire at the plate. During his current seven-game hitting streak, Murphy is hitting .423 with three home runs and 11 RBI.
- Texas had it's fourth sellout of the season with 48,676 fans in attendance to watch this meltdown. It's the largest crowd since opening day.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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