You can’t win ’em all…

…and I guess you can’t lose ’em all, because the Rangers got their first home postseason win in franchise history (1-7).

A day after a magical 6-5 come-from-behind win (a game which I never thought they’d lose), the Rangers pounded the Yanks 7-2 to snap a 10-game postseason losing streak to the defending World Champs and even the ALCS at 1-1. Texas’ first postseason win against NYY since October 1, 1996 dropped the Yanks’ 2010 playoff record to 4-1.

The biggest obstacle the Yanks had to overcome in Game 2 was the ineffectiveness of Phil Hughes, who was going on six days rest. Philthy, who had good numbers in his brief history pitching at Texas, went four-plus innings and was tagged for a season-high seven runs on a season-high-tying 10 hits (seven for extra bases) with three strikeouts and as many walks. He allowed as many hits (three) one time through the order as he did in his 15 1/3 career innings at The Ballpark in Arlington combined. I was surprised that Girardi left him in as long as he did. I thought he should have gotten the hook much earlier.

Horrible pitching has been a recurring theme for the Yanks in the ALCS, as CC, going on eight days rest, was equally terrible in Game 1. Although, they pulled some magic out of their asses and got the win in that game.

On the bright side, if you told me before the ALCS started that Yankee starters would combine to go eight-plus innings and give up 12 runs on 16 hits in the first two games but the series would still be tied 1-1 headed back to New York, I would not complain. So I guess I’ll take it; it could be A LOT worse.

As awful as Hughes was, the bullpen more than made up for it. Joba, D-Rob, Boom Boom Boone and the Tray of Meat combined to throw four innings of two-hit relief.

Cano was, more or less, the lone bright spot in the lineup. Robbie, who is 9-for-21 with two homers and four RBI in the five playoff games this year, had a long homer and missed a couple of others by a few feet. Fat Elvis also had an RBI but got caught in a pickle as he took a wide turn around first. The team was hitting Colby Lewis hard, the balls just weren’t dropping.

Furthermore, and I’m not one to cry shenanigans but, how are they supposed to hit with this friggin’ strike zone. Tony Randazzo ought to be ashamed of himself, this is a disgrace:

Oh well, what can you do? The umpiring was shitty in Game 1 as well. Plus, did you really think they were going to go 11-0 this postseason? Even the ’98 Yanks lost two games in the ALCS. They’ll bounce back as they have Andy Pettitte going against Cliff Lee on Monday in Game 3.

Post Game Quotes:

Girardi on the starters:

"Our starters have not pitched well so far. Our starters pitched extremely well and everyone was giddy about them the last series. I don’t ever get too involved in snapshot pictures because those can be dangerous. I believe in our guys and I believe that they will pitch well as we continue forward here."

Girardi on Game 3:

"There’s been talk about Cliff Lee before we even started this series. People were talking about Game 3, but let’s not forget that we have a pretty good guy on the mound too that’s won a lot of postseason games. He’s won a lot of clinchers in his career…he’s been doing it a long time. You would think it’ll be a good match up on Monday night."

Girardi on Hughes:

"He was up in the zone but he was getting some outs for us so we decided to stay with him and then he gives up the leadoff double in the fifth"

LET’S GO YANKS!!!!