Tag: Cliff Lee (Page 6 of 17)

      Cliff Lee is pretty decent in the postseason

      October 13, 2010 /
      Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cliff Lee throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during Game 5 of their American League Division Series MLB baseball playoffs in St. Petersburg, Florida October 12, 2010. REUTERS/Scott Audette (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Cliff Lee is a bad, bad mother when it comes to pitching the playoffs.

      Once again, he went the distance in a postseason start as the Rangers knocked off the Rays 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of the ALDS. With the win, Texas advances to the ALCS to face the Yankees. With the loss, Tampa now advances to its couch to watch the Rangers take on the Yankees.

      Lee scattered six hits over nine innings while striking out 11 and walking zero batters. With his 11 Ks, he now owns the ALDS record with 21 strikeouts, surpassing the previous total of 16 held by the Big Unit (1995, 1997) and Mike Mussina (1997). Because he had to pitch on Tuesday night, he likely won’t start until Game 3 of the ALCS, while C.J. Wilson will start Game 1 and Colby Lewis Game 2.

      The Rangers and Yankees split eight games during the regular season, which including a three-game sweep for Texas at home in September. Lee has beaten the Bronx Bombers twice in the postseason already, with both of those wins coming in the World Series last year.

      And whether or not he beats them in the ALCS, he’ll likely be in pinstripes by December. He’s a free agent at the end of the year and Brian Cashman probably has wood just thinking about signing Lee to a seven-year, gazillion dollar contract.

      External Sports, MLB

      Cliff Lee once again shows his mastery in postseason

      October 6, 2010 /
      Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cliff Lee throws against the Tampa Bay Rays in the second during their American League Division Series MLB baseball game in St. Petersburg, Florida October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Scott Audette (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Cliff Lee pitched seven innings of one-run ball on Wednesday as the Rangers beat the Rays 5-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS.

      Lee was outstanding, striking out 10 batters to set a postseason record for the Rangers. He spread out five hits over seven innings and used only 104 pitches to complete his masterpiece today. The only run he allowed came on a Ben Zobrist home run in the seventh inning when the game was essentially out of reach for the Rays.

      David Price’s day didn’t go as well. He surrended five runs (four earned) over 6 2.3 innings, including two in the second. He also gave up a dinger to Nelson Cruz on a 3-0 pitch and had trouble with his off-speed stuff for most of the afternoon. Texas isn’t the lineup you want to face when you can only rely on your fastball.

      The other hero for the Rangers was an unlikely one, as catcher Bengie Molina finished 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Jeff Francouer gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the second inning and Molina followed the near home run with a single to right. He added his home run in the fourth to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead.

      Game 2 will be held tomorrow afternoon at 2:37PM ET, as C.J. Wilson will take the hill against Tampa’s James Shields.

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      October 2, 2010 /

      The regular season is almost over, and we have an almost anti-climatic AL East race going on, with just playoff positioning to determine. In the NL, the Phillies and Reds are in but the Giants, Padres and Braves are battling for the final two spots. The Rockies sure flamed out fast, didn’t they? I guess this will be our final power rankings for the year, and it’s time to focus on our NFL MVP, Coach of Year and Rookie of Year power rankings. Thanks for reading, folks and enjoy the playoffs!

      1. Philadelphia Phillies (96-64)—As a Mets fan, it pains me to say this, but I can’t see anyone beating these guys at this point. They had their rough patch the first half of the season when the Braves and Mets battled for first place and they sat back and watched, but here they are.

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (94-66)—It’s going to be a photo finish in the AL East.

      3. New York Yankees (94-65)—I feel like NY will wind up with the wild card, and they may want it that way so they can face Minnesota instead of Texas, if only to avoid Cliff Lee.

      4. Minnesota Twins (93-67)—One win this past week, but it doesn’t even matter having clinched a while ago.

      5. San Francisco Giants (91-69)—No champagne yet, guys. But this team is looking mighty strong heading into the postseason. However, like I said, no champagne…

      6. Atlanta Braves (90-70)—Tough luck drawing the Phillies this weekend, and their lead in the wild card is just one game over San Diego. At least we have some tight races to look forward to in the NL.

      7. San Diego Padres (89-71)—A good thing they didn’t trade Adrian Gonzalez. Wow, what a shame it would be for these guys to miss the postseason at this point, but it might happen. Then again, see Giants above….and don’t count the Braves out from collapsing either.

      8. Cincinnati Reds (89-71)—They could be dangerous this month because of three words. Joey Freaking Votto.

      9. Texas Rangers (89-71)—Cliff Lee and that Murderer’s Row lineup could make noise too, but I’m not banking on it.

      10. Boston Red Sox (87-72)—Tough division, but it’s likely the Sox will finish with a worse record than any of the 8 playoff teams.

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      August 21, 2010 /

      With football season upon us, that’s when baseball gets real interesting. To me, there is no better time of year than that first weekend in October when you have four MLB playoff series and a full slate of NFL games. As for the pennant races, they’re starting to shift and some teams are beginning to pull away while others lose hold on their position…

      1. New York Yankees (75-47)—A one-game lead but the Mariners are in town this weekend, so it’s as good a time as any to start padding the margin over the Rays and Sox again.

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (74-48)—Still hanging on, as the Yankees continue to look in their collective rear-view mirror.

      3. San Diego Padres (73-48)—The Giants had their five-game winning streak, and the Padres answered with one of their own, widening their late August lead to 6 games over the G-men until losing last night. Is there any question about manager of the year here?

      4. Atlanta Braves (72-50)—Bobby Cox hopes his team will feast on Cubs’ pitching at Wrigley while the Phils face the Nats at home.

      5. Texas Rangers (68-53)—The Rangers lost four in a row this past week but still have a seven-game lead over the A’s and Angels. I’d say they have nothing to worry about.

      6. Minnesota Twins (71-51)—As we suspected, the Twins keep adding to their lead, now 4.5 games over the White Sox.

      7. Cincinnati Red (71-51)—Just when the Cardinals made a statement, the Reds have now won 7 in a row while St. Louis has lost 5 straight, giving Dusty Baker’s boys a 4.5 game lead and increasing the chances Brandon Phillips will start smack-talking again, if he hasn’t already.

      8. Boston Red Sox (69-54)—Time is running out on the Sox, and also on Roger Clemens’ days as a free man.

      9. Philadelphia Phillies (69-52)—They’ve stayed hot, but so have the Braves. Do you think the Phils wish they still had Cliff Lee?

      10. San Francisco Giants (69-54)—Only trailing Philly in the wild card chase by one game, two in the loss column. But a recent slide took them out of that spot and their hopes of a division crown are fading away.

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      July 31, 2010 /

      It’s hard to believe July is ending today and the dog days of summer are in full swing. It also means pennant races are heating up, and this year they are more so than ever. You can safely say the Rangers are playoff-bound, but every other division lead is no greater than 3.5 games, and we have three divisions that have the top two teams separated by 1.5 games or less. How awesome is that? I mean, this could be the greatest stretch run as far as the entire league, ever. Here are Mikey’s power rankings (yes, I just referred to myself in the third person, I need to stop that!)……

      1. New York Yankees (65-37)—The Rays are inching closer, but the Yanks are still the team to beat. Adding Lance Berkman was a way for them to bully the Rays a little, like “Take that, small market team!” I also keep thinking about how they are going to sign Cliff Lee in the off-season and then they may play .800 ball next year. And really, who wants to see that?

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (64-38)—Don’t think the Yankees aren’t sweating, however. Because these Rays just sweat talent.

      3. San Diego Padres (60-41)—Seriously, when was the last time the Padres were contemplating trades at the trade deadline to bolster their team for the stretch? It’s such a great story this year.

      4. Texas Rangers (60-43)—Speaking of great stories…..the Rangers are up by 8 games in their division and could be the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

      5. Atlanta Braves (59-43)—Another great story. I wonder if Greg Maddux could come back and help these guys for a few months.

      6. Boston Red Sox (58-45)—Now these guys will definitely be the odd team out, and it almost seems like if they keep winning it won’t matter.

      7. San Francisco Giants (59-45)—Don’t look now, but the G-men are 2.5 games back of the Padres. And they have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, so they have the goods to contend down the stretch.

      8. Chicago White Sox (58-44)—Another 5-game win streak, but barely hanging on to first place in the AL Central

      9. Cincinnati Reds (57-47)—How many great team stories can there be in one year? Forget the year of the pitcher, it’s the year of the Cinderella. Sorry, Cardinals fans, I know you have a half-game lead, but Joey Votto just hit another home run. Wait, there goes another one!

      10. Minnesota Twins (57-46)—It’s just a matter of time before the White Sox fade, and the Twins are putting ridiculous pressure on them with their own 6-game winning streak.

      In the hunt: St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, LA Dodgers
      Fading fast: New York Mets, LA Angels, Colorado Rockies

      External Sports, MLB

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