Major League Baseball

FINAL-LEE, YANKS HAVE AN ALCS FOE - CLIFF & CO. CONFIDENT THEY CAN TAKE OUT CHAMPS

Published Oct. 13, 2010 10:06 p.m. ET

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - He's not a pitcher. He's a magician. Cliff Lee's pitching magic carried the Rangers to their first postseason series victory in franchise history last night at Tropicana Field. For his next trick, the left-hander just might make the Yankees disappear.

After what Lee did to the Rays last night in the Rangers' 5-1 victory in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS, the Yankees can be thankful they won't have to face him until Game 3 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium.

The Rangers are gunning for the Yankees.

"Sure, we can beat the Yankees, why not?" right fielder and former Met Jeff Francoeur said. "We got C.J. [Wilson] going in Game 1, and from there we'll turn the page. It's a new ballgame. Having Cliff is unbelievable. He's amazing."

The most confident guy in the room was Lee. As teammates celebrated around him he calmly said: "We're not finished yet. Hopefully we'll have two more of these celebrations and win our last game, that's our goal. This is just one step along the way. We got, what is it? Eight more wins."

The road team won every game in this series for the first time. Lee, likely a future Yankee when he becomes a free agent after the season, was the winner in Game 1. He struck out 11 and did not walk a batter over nine innings last night. He owned the Rays and is 6-0 in postseason play with a 1.44 ERA, the lowest mark for a starter since a guy named Sandy Koufax (0.95).

He is the pitching version of Mr. October. The Yankees can't take anything for granted.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long offers this report on Lee:

"He has great command, not with just one pitch, but pretty much his whole repertoire. He can put it where he wants and he doesn't really nibble. Last year, Alex [Rodriguez] was as hot as anybody on the planet going into the [World Series] and Lee attacked him like he was just an ordinary guy. He went after him with his stuff, that's what makes him different than everybody else."

"He doesn't walk guys. He attacks the strike zone and he can locate, with a really good mix, so that's what makes him better than everybody else."

Different and better than everybody else, that's it in a pitching nutshell and that's what the Yankees are going to have to deal with in Game 3 in The Bronx and in Game 7, if it goes that far, in Arlington. The Yankees can be thankful that the Rangers did not close out the Rays in four games. If that had happened, the Yankees would have to contend with Lee right from the start of the ALCS.

Lee was never better than in the fourth when he struck out the side. He caught lefty Carlos Pena looking and did the same to B.J. Upton and got Dan Johnson swinging, 12 ptiches, three strikeouts.

The next time Pena came to the plate, in the sixth, Lee struck him out swinging on a 76-mph diving curveball. That was his 21st strikeout of the series, setting an ALDS record. He added four more and tied Kevin Brown for the LDS record.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said the Rangers are a better version of the Rays and said he thinks the Yankees will be challenged.

"I think it's going to be a great series because I think Texas is very similar to us in a lot of respects," Maddon said. "I think they are a little bit more offensive though. That's pretty obvious. They play good defense, run the bases well, have good starting pitching, and they have a nice bullpen that you can match up with. Texas has played them well all season, it's going to be very entertaining."

As the Rangers celebrated on the mound after the final out, pounding Lee in victory, a chant rose from the left-field stands: "Beat the Yankees!"

With Lee on the mound, anything is possible.

Yankees vs. Rangers

Friday, 8:07 p.m.

Yankees (Sabathia 21-7) at Rangers (Wilson 15-8)

Saturday, 4:07 p.m.

Yankees (Pettitte 11-3 or Hughes 18-8) at Rangers (Lewis 12-13 or Hunter 13-4)

Monday, 8:07 p.m.

Rangers (Lee 12-9) at Yankees (Hughes 18-8 or Pettitte 11-3)

Tuesday, 8:07 p.m.

Rangers (TBA) at Yankees (Burnett 10-15)

x-Wednesday, 4:07 p.m.

Rangers at Yankees

x-Friday, Oct. 22, 8:07 p.m.

Yankees at Rangers

x-Saturday, Oct. 23, 8:07 p.m.

Yankees at Rangers

x-if necessary

All games on TBS

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