CC you in Arlington!

"We play today, we win today- that's it."

- Mariano Duncan

It's been 52 years since the Yanks came back from a 3-1 hole, but they're not going down without a fight.

C.C came out today and did exactly what he needed to do. He gave up 11 hits, but he kept Texas in check in the run column. Hamilton was a non-factor and, in his final inning, he got himself out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam. All in a 7-2 victory for the Yanks.

The defending champs knocked the Rangers square in the mouth. Back in the starting lineup he should've never been out of, Jorge got things going with the RBI single and the Granderson came through with the 2-run double that looked like a play straight out of little league. By the way, good thing A-Rod didn't slide because he would've been toast!

The game was put out of reach in the bottom of the 3rd when Swish woke up from his 1-16 funk and put one over the wall. Robby Cano followed suit with his 4th bomb of the ALCS to make it 5-0. Texas might as well have packed it in then because it was over. C.J Wilson was a shadow of his game 1 self.

The Yanks may have lost Tex, but the Rangers may have also lost a big bat today in Nelson Cruz. His left hammy that kept him out of 51 games this year acted up on him again and he was taken out in the 5th. Anytime you can get someone that's hitting .371 4 HR 6 RBI in October, it's a good thing.

Outside of Berkman's not so graceful plunge in the right field foul ground today, my bonehead play of the day award goes to Elvis Andrus. What the hell was he thinking leading off of second base when your fighting to get back into a game? Should never happen. Kudos to Kerry for picking off 2 in the series.

Hey. At least Joe finally went to Mo to closse out the game.

We resume in Texas Friday night with Phil Hughes against Colby Lewis. Can the Yanks keep the momentum rolling? If they do, the only thing stading between them and the World Series... is Cliff Lee.

How good is Cliff Lee?

Good enough to get $200 million next year in free agency and have nobody doubt how crazy it is.

Lee's 13 K's last night made it 3 consecutive postseason starts that he's had 10+ strikeouts in a game. The only other person to accomplish that? Bob Gibson.

It took him 19 2/3 innings to allow a walk this postseason. Lee punched out 30 batters before he walked a batter! These are both postseason records!

He's now 7-0 with a 1.26 E.R.A in the postseason. Who has a lower E.R.A? Christy Matthewson (5-5 0.97) and Sandy "The Left Arm of God" Koufax (4-3 0.95). Even these pitching legends have lost postseason games. Lee has yet to do so.

The New York Yankees have played in over 360 postseason games and had never been held to a measly 3 baserunners in any one of those games.

That's how good Cliff Lee is.

It's all on you A.J!

Andy Pettitte was solid last night, Cliff Lee was dominant! A 3rd straight 10 k preformance and an 8th inning blowup has the defending World Champions in a 2-1 hole.

The hopeful savior has not pitched in 17 days, an $83 million dollar contract, 15 losses and an E.R.A over 5.

I hope you know what your doing Joe, because you clearly made a bad call not going with Mariano last night. The more I thought about it, the more you needed to keep that lead to just 2 runs in such a pivotal game. Connor Robertson just didn't have it and the Yankees were held to just 3 baserunners all game; the lowest total they've ever had in a postseason game.

To Joe's credit, however, you can't throw the rest of your rotation out there on 3 days rest for the rest of the series. But c'mon man! A.J Burnett?!

Because of Burnett, Cervelli will get the catching duties tonight instead of Jorge Posada. I would have told A.J to find a way to deal with it for the sake of a W. Experience is key, and now Girardi has just pissed off a member of the core 4.

The silver lining? Tommy Hunter gives up the long ball (21 HR in 128 IP) The Yankees hit home runs. Tonight will not be a pitcher's duel, it will be an offensive explosion. The only question is whether or not A.J will cough up the runs more than Hunter. Yanks tie up the series tonight.

Pettitte vs Lee..Showdown in the Bronx!

The series is all tied up 1 game to 1. The Rangers are sending out the dominant Cliff Lee; a man who has been absolutely filthy in every postseason game he has ever started. The Yankees counter with a man who has 19 postseason victories to his name and, quite frankly, the man you want on the mound in a big game situation. With momentum on the line, you want Andy Pettitte with the ball in his hands.

The Rangers are proving that they are not some pushover; just ask C.C sabathia and Phil Hughes. Many people may be asking just who the hell Colby Lewis is, but he was a solid pitcher all year that was a victim of lousy run support.

Yankee fans, if it wasn't for Brett Gardner and his gutsy dive into 1st base, you may be in a 2-0 defecit in this series. Gardner's play in the top of the 8th ignited a 5-run inning and a wild comeback that spoiled the solid pitching preformance of C.J Wilson. If Andy comes out on top tonite, your up 2-1 and don't need to worry as much about Burnett in Game 4. If Lee takes down the Yanks in the Bronx tonight, do you pull Burnett? C.C is known to pitch on 3 days rest, but will he be able to shake off his game 1 preformance? Andy Pettitte hasn't been anything short of clutch, but will Lee be just a little bit better?

Rangers fina-lee making it rain...with Ginger Ale!

The dust has settled. The smoke has cleared and this just in; Cliff Lee is really, really good!

In a series where the home team didn't win a single game, the Texas Rangers have finally won their first ever postseason series and move on to face the Yanks.

Cliff Lee is now 6-0 with a 1.44 E.R.A in the postseason. In this year's ALDS, he went 2-0, struck out 21 (an ALDS record), and walked nobody! Say it with me...ewwwww!

This Texas team is one that is easy to rally around. The claw and antler gestures made from the dugout bring me back to the days of the rally monkey and dousing Josh Hamilton, a recovering alcoholic, in ginger ale instead of the traditional booze shows that this team oozes true class.

The last time Texas faced the defending World Champs, they swept the Yankees in 3 games. Will it be a repeat preformance?

Showdown at the Trop..

We're right back to where we started...Lee vs. Price for a shot at the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

Just five days ago, the Texas Rangers were one game away from winning their first ever playoff series. Tonight, they face the possibility of being 9 innings away from setting up a tee time for tomorrow morning.

It has also been 5 days since MVP candidate Josh Hamilton has had a base hit. Can the Texas lineup turn it around against another Cy Young hopeful, David Price? Price laid an egg in game 1. Can he regain his command? If he falls behind the count, like he did in game 1, he will be forced to throw more fastballs; that means bad news bears against a strong Rangers lineup.

Evan Longoria showed signs of life in Game 4 with a HR and a pair of doubles. He may be injured, but it's the playoffs! You step your game up! My x-factor? THE TROP! They opened up 5,000 more upper deck seats for tonight. They've averaged 35,000 for the 1st 2 games after having to give away 20,000 freebies for the playoff clincher. Will the Rays fans show up and be a force? If so, the Rays are taking this one and the Rangers will be saying bye bye to Cliff Lee sooner than they hoped.

Road To The Ship Day 1: Mr. Doc-Tober!

I hope everyone had the opportunity to tune into TBS last night around 7:30 last night, because what you witnessed is something that we see once in a lifetime.

A no-hitter hasn't been pitched in the postseason since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Even if Doc Halladay wasn't "perfect" last night, he couldn't have looked more in the zone in his 1st ever postseason start. Halladay scattered 104 pitches over his 9 innings; 79 of those strikes. A fifth inning walk to Jay Bruce was his only blemish. Watching him, you just had the eerie feeling that nobody was going to touch him...and they didn't. Between this amazing feat, his perfect game back in May and most likely being named the NL Cy Young Award winner, i'm expecting a statue of Roy being built in front of Citizens Bank by April.

Oh yea, Phils won 4-0, rocked Edinson Volquez, who shouldn't have been starting game 1 after missing most of the year and had an RBI single from..you guessed it..Roy Hobbs..err..Halladay

Before this historic game, however, we had the postseason kick off with a phenomenal matchup of Cliff Lee vs David Price. Unfortunately, David Price didn't get the memo.

Price went 6 2/3, but gave up a couple of bombs to Bengie Molina and Nelson Cruz; not to mention an RBI single to Jeff Francoeur! You think the playoffs have revitalized him?

If there's one thing I did learn yesterday it was that Lee ALWAYS steps it up in October, regardless of what kind of year he had this season. Cliff scattered a run and 5 hits over 7 with 10K's..probably would have been the talk of yesterday if Roy Roy didn't go nuts.

Texas has a lineup full of hitters and this series will NOT be easy for the Rays. At least 35,000 strong actually showed up to the game. C.J Wilson and his 15-8 record take the mound for the Rangers while James Shields goes for TB this afternoon and Shields just did not have a good year. He has given up at least 4 earned runs in 5 of his last 6 starts and facing this potent Texas offense won't help. Expect Texas to go up 2-0 and win their first ever playoff series!

In Minny last night, C.C Sabathia wasn't at his best, but the Yankees still managed to come out on top 6-4 with a little help from Big Tex. Mariano came on, faced four batters and broke 4 bats; definitely looked like the Mo of old last night. Now, the question is can Andy Pettitte look like his old self in Game 2 against former Yankee, Carl Pavano. I can only imagine how bad you Yanks fans wanna stick it to this guy.

Don't forget about the Braves and San Francisco baseball Giants. They get kicked off tonight around 9:30! "Big Time Timmy Jim" Lincecum battles Derek Lowe as the Bravos look to extend Bobby Cox's managerial career. In a side note, the highest paid player on the Giants, Barry Zito, was left off the roster because he has sucked for the first 4 years of his contract

Just for the record, does anybody else hate the pitchtracker on TBS? Just saying!

Enjoy the games tonight and i'll be back to recap day 2 tomorrow!