Major League Baseball

Yanked away

Published Oct. 16, 2010 10:05 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

ARLINGTON - The one dirty little secret about the Rangers bullpen all year was that as good as the numbers were, they weren't terribly trustworthy with late-inning leads.

The Rangers lost 11 games when they led after six innings. They lost nine games when they led after seven.

And now, the Rangers have lost two precious playoff games in the same fashion.

Teams rarely rebound from one such loss. The Rangers barely did in the Division Series. Now, against the defending World Series champions, the Rangers must rebound from a second such loss just as the AL Championship Series was getting started Friday night. A four-run lead in the eighth inning became a 6-5 loss after one reliever after another failed to do his job.

The Yankee comeback, built in part by a couple of defensive plays that weren't made, also may have sent a reminder to those Rangers who have said past playoff failures against the Yankees are irrelevant. But after Friday's loss, the Rangers had dropped 10 consecutive postseason matchups with the Yankees. And they are still seeking their first-ever home playoff win.

It also once again exposed the weakness in the Rangers' playoff roster: An injury-depleted, inexperienced bullpen.

The Rangers had spent the time between surviving a bullpen breakdown in the Division Series and the start of the ALCS trying to refashion the bullpen to better match up with the AL's most prolific offense. The Rangers began Friday by adding lefties Michael Kirkman and Clay Rapada to the roster and removing Dustin Nippert and infielder Esteban German.

The intent had been to better combat the Yankees' cadre of lefties and switch hitters. They came in waves in the eighth, and neither starter C.J. Wilson, who had been magnificent for the first seven innings, nor any of the four relievers who followed could stop them.

The defense didn't help, either. The inning began with speedy Brett Gardner bouncing a ball to first base, but Jorge Cantu, didn't really charge the ball. By the time he flipped to Wilson as he stepped for the bag, Gardner had beaten him to the bag with a head-first slide. Derek Jeter followed with a run-scoring double to force Wilson out. And it changed the complexion of the game.

Darren Oliver, who threw 59 pitches in five days during the AL Division Series, walked both batters he faced. The Rangers had added to the left side of the bullpen partly to take some stress off Oliver and keep him fresh for the eighth.

After Oliver, the Rangers went to Darren O'Day, who has been used mostly as a one- or two-batter specialist in the latter stages of the season. His one batter - Alex Rodriguez - singled home a pair of runs on the first and only pitch O'Day threw. The ball ate up Michael Young at third.

The Rangers turned to Rapada, idle for the ALDS, to face Robinson Cano. Rapada was added to the roster expressly to face Cano and manager Ron Washington had admitted as much before the game. Cano singled home the tying run on the first pitch.

Then Washington went to Derek Holland, who had been so nervous in the Division Series, he was trembling on the mound during his first outing. Things had spiraled out of control so fast Washington hadn't had enough time to get right-hander Alexi Ogando ready. So Holland ended up facing lefty-killer Marcus Thames, who singled home the go-ahead run.

"I had the people in the game that I wanted in the game," Washington said. "They just didn't get it done. We didn't give this game away; we just didn't execute. You are playing the Yankees. You've got to execute."

The bullpen has been in flux all season. The club changed closers before the end of the first week of the season and spent the last month trying to find somebody who could serve as another late-inning arm in the wake of an injury to Frank Francisco.

Four outs away from sweeping the Division Series, the bullpen blew up last Saturday. The Rangers found a way to survive, though it took them the full five games of the series and meant having to shelve ace Cliff Lee for the first two games of the ALCS.

The bullpen's inability to protect late leads has been something of a dirty little secret all year.

It's no longer a secret.

Killer rally

How the Yankees erased the Rangers' 5-1 lead in the eighth inning without recording an out:

?Brett Gardner dives head-first into first base for an infield single.

?Derek Jeter doubles to left, Gardner scores.

TEX 5, NYY 2

?Darren Oliver relieves C.J. Wilson and walks Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira to load the bases. Oliver is lifted for Darren O'Day.

?O'Day throws one pitch, which Alex Rodriguez lines past Michael Young, scoring Jeter and Swisher. Clay Rapada relieves O'Day.

TEX 5, NYY 4

?Robinson Cano singles, driving home Teixeira. Rodriguez moves to third on an error by Josh Hamilton.

TEX 5, NYY 5

?Derek Holland, in relief of Rapada, allows a single to Marcus Thames scoring Rodriguez.

NYY 6, TEX 5

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball