The Yankees took the field last night knowing that a loss meant the end of their season. Sending young Phil Hughes, an 18 game winner this season, to the mound seemed like a no-brainer. Though he was torched in game 2, he would surely come back and pitch his game with the season was on the line.
At time Hughes looked distracted and not into the moment. His eyes were not those of a focused, concentrated, 18 game winner. He didn't finish a few of his pitches, the Rangers made him pay. Starting in the bottom first inning when shortstop Elvis Andrus led off with a double, advanced to third on a single by center fielder Josh Hamilton and scored on a hit and run ground out by DH Vladimir Guerrero; the Rangers took advantage of every chance they had en route to a 6-1 victory.
We didn't accomplish what we set out to. And as I told my guys, this hurts," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after the game. "I've been through it as a player. I've been through it as a coach and now I've been through it as a manager. It's not a lot of fun watching other teams celebrate. They beat us. They outhit us, they outpitched us, outplayed us and they beat us."
The Yankees only run of the game was scored after a leadoff triple by Alex Rodriguez in the 2nd inning. While right fielder Nick Swisher was at the plate, he was hit in the knee by a pitch that bounced off the ground first. Reacting to the ball and trying to block it from getting past him, Rangers catcher Bengie Molina slid to stop it not knowing it would hit Swisher. Molina obscured home plate umpire Brian Gorman's view of the ball and when it skipped past him Alex Rodriguez ran home to tie the game.
Initially Swisher doubled over at the plate, as soon as he saw Rodriguez running home he popped up and stepped away to allow A-Rod to score. Molina instantly pointed at Swisher arguing he was hit with the ball. Rangers manager Ron Washington ran out of the dugout to plead his case while Yankee manager Joe Girardi watched pensively from a distance. Swisher continued the at bat and later grounded out. He noticeably limped off the field after being thrown out. Replays showed he was clearly hit below the left knee after the ball hit the ground. It would not matter much by the end of the game.
The Rangers scored again in the bottom of the third inning on a two run double to deep center field over the head of Curtis Granderson by Vladimir Guerrero after an intentional walk to Hamilton to make it 3-1. "I told him in the on-deck circle, 'Don't let them do that to you,'" the Rangers' Nelson Cruz said. "'Go do something." As he rounded second base he gave the claw sign to his teammates.
Phil Hughes had no rhythm at all last night. He left the game in the fifth inning without recording the final out. David Roberston came in and immediately surrendered a home run to Nelson Cruz after he fouled off a few tough pitches. Cruz crushed the ball to the left field bleachers and rounded the bases to a delirious crowd as fireworks went off and the theme song from "The Natural" brought reality to the Yankees. It was not their night. This is not their year. There will be no parade up the Canyon of Heroes.
"I didn't feel anything," Cruz said. "As soon as I hit it, I felt like I could fly around the bases."
The night belonged to the Texas Rangers. Colby Lewis pitched the game of his life in game 6. His final line was 8 innings pitched, allowing one run on three hits while striking out 7. Hughes would end up allowing 4 runs on 4 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Clearly not up to expectations.
The night ended when Alex Rodriguez struck out looking in his best Carlos Beltran impression on a curve ball from Neftali Feliz. The celebration began on the field immediately in a shower of confetti and ginger ale. On the field, in the clubhouse, ginger ale covered everyone. The Rangers did a victory lap around the stadium high fiving fans as an American League Champions flag unfurled at the top of the stadium in the outfield.
To cap the night off, the late Gene Autrey's wife Jackie handed the AL champion trophy to Nolan Ryan. Ryan said to the fans: "Our fans have waited a long time, this organization has waited a long time," Ryan said. "This team, coming out of spring training, was on a mission."
Josh Hamilton won the ALCS MVP and deferred to his teammates when asked about what it felt like to win the award. When asked about his teammates he said: "We are here as a group. This group is here because they don't know how to fail."
"The World Series is coming to Texas," said Michael Young, the Rangers' 3rd baseman. "These fans have waited longer than we have. I know how bad we wanted it, and they must have wanted it more."
Texas now awaits the winner of the NLCS between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants.
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