Rangers cough up lead and lose Game 1

The Texas Rangers lost Game 1 of the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees tonight by a score of 6-5 in Arlington, TX. The loss was especially brutal because the Rangers held a 5-0 lead through six innings of play and a 5-1 lead entering the 8th. Ah, but the 8th was a brutal inning where the Rangers bullpen imploded and allowed the Yankees to take the lead before even recording an out. One of the big killers was Darren Oliver coming in from the bullpen and walking two hitters. You can't give away free bases in these kind of games. Of course I shouldn't single out Oliver because pretty much anyone that came in from the bullpen didn't get the job done in that inning. Marcus Thames got the big hit that put the Yankees ahead for the first time but there were many contributors.

The whole thing just disgusts me. The Rangers had the Yankees' ace, CC Sabathia, on the ropes and couldn't win. You can't afford to have that happen. Now all the momentum is with the Yankees. Hopefully the Rangers can bounce back tomorrow and even the series up. They can't dwell on this loss too much. Here's the LCS Schedule for tomorrow:

Game 2 -- New York Yankees (Hughes) at Texas Rangers (Lewis), 2:07 p.m. MT (TBS, Yankees lead series 1-0)
Game 1 -- San Francisco Giants (Lincecum) at Philadelphia Phillies (Halladay), 5:57 p.m. MT

It's no secret. I'm very much looking forward to the Giants game tomorrow night and it can't get here soon enough. Go Giants!

League Championsip Series preview

The American League Championship Series gets under way tonight at 6:07 p.m. MT with the New York Yankees at the Texas Rangers. The Yankees start CC Sabathia and the Rangers counter with C.J. Wilson who was very solid in his Game 2 start against the Rays in the Division Series. The Yankees looked like a buzzsaw in sweeping the Twins in the first round and appear to have a lot of momentum plus a bona fide ace starting in Game 1. I hate the Yankees more than any other team in sports but I think they just have too much for the Rangers to handle and will win the series in five games.

It hurts the Rangers' cause that Cliff Lee likely won't be able to start until Game 3 of the series because he pitched on Tuesday night in the deciding Game 5 of the Division Series against Tampa Bay. Lee's performance in the Rangers' win has further solidified him as a big game pitcher who knows how to win in October. Curt Schilling, now an analyst for Baseball Tonight, said he feels a big key in this series for the Rangers will be to get Lee two starts. I agree as I feel the Rangers will have the edge when Lee takes the ball. They need to find a way to win a couple of other games, though. Tonight is a big game because whoever wins will be in the driver's seat for the series. If the Yankees win they will have stolen away home field advantage after the first game and if the Rangers win they will go back to New York with no worse than a split and their ace Lee lined up to pitch in Game 3. The stakes are high tonight and I'm excited to watch.

The National League Championship Series gets under way tomorrow night at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX with the San Francisco Giants at the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 1's pitching matchup could be one for the ages as the Giants go with Tim Lincecum and the Phillies with Roy Halladay. I'm really excited to watch that one. Halladay of course threw a no-hitter in his most recent (and first career) postseason start while Lincecum threw a complete game shutout in his NLDS start against the Braves and yielded only two hits while striking out 14 batters. Both teams have solid pitching, especially when you look at their first three starters. The Phillies go with Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. The Giants go with Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain. The Phillies' offense is more potent than San Francisco's and while the front line starting pitchers are similar (I may give the Phillies a very slight edge in this department) but I believe the Giants' bullpen is more formidable. This should make for a very exciting series and I for one can't wait for it to get under way. As much as I would love for the Giants to win and am craving a world title for them, I think the Phillies take this series in six games.