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<\/a>New York swept the Twins in the American League Divisional Series, recording the team\u2019s 13th postseason sweep and its good news in the team\u2019s hopes of repeating as champions.\u00a0 The Yankees have won the World Series each of the three times they have swept the ALDS (1998, 1999, 2009).\u00a0 The team has had a five-day layoff from its last game and is anxious to get the action started versus the Rangers.\u00a0 \u201cWe haven\u2019t played in about a week, so we\u2019re well rested,\u201d said third baseman Alex Rodriguez.\u00a0 \u201cI think we\u2019re in a good place.\u201d\u00a0 New York is also anxious to add on to its nine-game postseason winning streak over tonight\u2019s opponent, which is tied for the third-longest winning streak by one team over one opponent in postseason history.\u00a0 The club also performed well on the road with a 43-38 record during the regular season and two wins over the Twins at Target Field in the ALDS.<\/p>\nYankees starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia posted a 21-7 record and 3.18 ERA in 34 regular season games and is coming off a 6-4 win over the Twins in the ALDS.\u00a0 He surrendered four runs (three earned) and five hits over six innings of work, while walking three and striking out five.\u00a0 The left-hander will be making his 11th career postseason start, going 5-4 with a 4.40 ERA, including a 3-1 mark and 1.98 ERA last year.\u00a0 In five prior Game 1 starts, Sabathia is 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA.\u00a0 The veteran will be making his 15th lifetime start versus the Rangers, posting an 8-3 mark and 4.29 ERA, including a home win on April 16.\u00a0 He allowed just a single run and scattered three hits over six innings in that performance.<\/p>\n
Texas advanced in the postseason with a 5-1 victory over the Rays in Game 5 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field.\u00a0 It secured the team\u2019s first postseason series victory in Washtingon\/Texas franchise history.\u00a0 For the first time ever, the Rangers will open a postseason series with a Game 1 in Arlington, as each of the first four series began on the road.\u00a0 Homefield advantage is normally a major plus in the playoffs, but the home team has a 4-11 record in this year\u2019s postseason.\u00a0 The club will be leaning on outfielder Nelson Cruz and second baseman Ian Kinsler to match the power of the Yankees, as both players hit three home runs in the series win over Tampa Bay.\u00a0 Texas is 30-23 versus left-handers this season and 51-32 at home.<\/p>\n
Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson is aiming for his second postseason victory after tossing 6.1 shutout innings in a 6-0 win at Tampa Bay in Game 2 of the ALDS.\u00a0 The left-hander allowed just two hits and issued two walks while striking out seven in the contest.\u00a0 He finished the regular season with a dynamite 11-3 home record and 3.70 ERA, surrendering just six home runs in 114.1 innings of work.\u00a0 New York would smart in sitting left-handed batters against Wilson, as he held opposing lefties to a .176 slugging percentage this season, lowest mark in the majors.\u00a0 He has gone 0-3 with a 4.12 ERA and two saves in 20 career appearances versus the Yankees, including an 0-1 mark and 5.65 ERA in three starts this year.<\/p>\n
Bettors will definitely be interested in playing the Yankees due to their 12-1 record when Sabathia throws against the AL West, but the team is 2-9 in its last 11 games versus a left-handed starter.\u00a0 Texas is a perfect 6-0 versus southpaws, but has dropped its last five games as a home underdog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York rides in fresh off a sweep of the Twins in the American League Divisional Series and now takes on Texas in Game 1 of the ALCS in Arlington. New York Yankees at Texas Rangers New York swept the Twins in the American League Divisional Series, recording the team\u2019s 13th postseason sweep and its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":4515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444],"tags":[3373,675,1695,265,1396,3372,1001,149,771],"class_list":["post-9080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-alcs","tag-alex-rodriguez","tag-arlington","tag-cc-sabathia","tag-c-j-wilson","tag-ian-kinsler","tag-nelson-cruz","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-texas-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9081,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9080\/revisions\/9081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>New York swept the Twins in the American League Divisional Series, recording the team\u2019s 13th postseason sweep and its good news in the team\u2019s hopes of repeating as champions.\u00a0 The Yankees have won the World Series each of the three times they have swept the ALDS (1998, 1999, 2009).\u00a0 The team has had a five-day layoff from its last game and is anxious to get the action started versus the Rangers.\u00a0 \u201cWe haven\u2019t played in about a week, so we\u2019re well rested,\u201d said third baseman Alex Rodriguez.\u00a0 \u201cI think we\u2019re in a good place.\u201d\u00a0 New York is also anxious to add on to its nine-game postseason winning streak over tonight\u2019s opponent, which is tied for the third-longest winning streak by one team over one opponent in postseason history.\u00a0 The club also performed well on the road with a 43-38 record during the regular season and two wins over the Twins at Target Field in the ALDS.<\/p>\n