Back to Texas

This series has been a major shocker.  The Yankees were huge favorites to win it, and after game 1, seemed like a sure bet.  The Rangers have proved to be a worthy opponent.  Down 3 to 1 in the series, the Yankees managed to win game 5 and force the series back to Texas.  Despite the win, it did not feel like the Yankees got the momentum back in the series.  Game 5 was a struggle and Texas was a hit or two away from making it into a game.  They had 11 hits off of Yankee starter CC Sabathia, but only managed to score 2 runs.  I consider that luck.  In most games where a team has 11 hits, it usually will result in more than 2 runs.   The Yankees need to pitch much better in games 6 and 7 or else their luck will run out. 

The Yankees will now depend on Phil Hughes to pitch well enough to get them to a game 7.  Hughes was awful in his first start of the series and needs to be much better in this one.  It will be interesting to see how he does because he have never pitched this deep into a season.  If he is not 100% on his game, the Yankees season might be over.  All he needs to do is give them a solid six innings.  If he does that, the Yankees will have Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera to close it out.  I would also expect the Yankee offense to step it up and beat up on Colby Lewis.    

Even if Hughes pitches well and manages to lead the Yankees to a game 6 victory, Cliff Lee awaits them in game 7.  The Yankees have never been able to beat Lee in the playoffs, so it will be a difficult task for them to achieve.   Lee was masterful in game 3 shutting down the Yankee offense going 8 innings with 13 strikeouts.  Andy Pettitte will be on the other side of the match up and he was almost good enough to match Lee pitch for pitch in game 3, but ultimately came up short.  The Rangers will be ultra confident knowing they have Lee in game 7.  Right now he is Goliath and the Yankees have not proven they could slay him.   More importantly, I do not think that the Yankees think they could beat him.