2010 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season Texas Rangers (3) Ron Washington 90–72, .556, GA: 9 Tampa Bay Rays (2) Joe Maddon 96–66, .593, GA: 1
Dates	October 6 – 12
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Don Orsillo,Buck Martinez and Marc Fien
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andBobby Valentine
Umpires	Tim Welke,Jim Wolf,Jerry Meals,Bill Miller,Jeff Kellogg andMike DiMuro.[1]
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season New York Yankees (3) Joe Girardi 95–67, .586, GB: 1 Minnesota Twins (0) Ron Gardenhire 94–68, .580, GA: 6
Dates	October 6 – 9
Television	TBS
TV announcers	Ernie Johnson,Ron Darling andJohn Smoltz
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Miller andOrel Hershiser
Umpires	Jerry Crawford,Hunter Wendelstedt,Greg Gibson,Brian O'Nora,Gary Darling andChris Guccione.[1]
← 2009 ALDS 2011 →

The2010American League Division Series (ALDS) were two best-of-five-game series inMajor League Baseball’s (MLB)2010 postseason to determine the participating teams in the2010 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners and a fourth "Wild Card" team (the team with the bestrecord among teams not winning their division) played in two series from October 6 to 12.TBS televised all games in the United States.^[2]

Under MLB's playoff format, no two teams from the same division were matched up in the Division Series, regardless of whether their records would normally indicate such a matchup.Home field advantage went to the team with the better regular-season record with the exception of the wild card team, which defers home field advantage regardless of record. The matchups for the 2010 ALDS were:

• (1)Tampa Bay Rays (Eastern Division champions, 96–66) vs. (3)Texas Rangers (West Division champions, 90–72): Rangers win series, 3–2.
• (2)Minnesota Twins (Central Division champions, 94–68) vs. (4)New York Yankees (Wild Card qualifier, 95–67): Yankees win series, 3–0.

This was the second consecutive season and fourth season overall in which the Twins and Yankees met in the ALDS; the Yankees won all their previous series, 3–1 in2003 and2004, and 3–0 in2009. The Rays and Rangers had never met previously in the postseason, with Tampa Bay making only their second postseason appearance in franchise history (after2008) and Texas making their fourth appearance (and first since1999).

The Rangers' win was the first postseason series victory in franchise history; the series also became the first MLB postseason series in which thevisiting team won every game.^[3] On the other side, the Yankees extended their postseason dominance over the Twins to four consecutive series wins.

The Rangers went on to defeat the Yankees in the ALCS, then lose the2010 World Series to the National League championSan Francisco Giants.

Texas won the series, 3–2.

New York won the series, 3–0.

Rangers ace Cliff Lee dominated the American League East champions in Game 1. He struck out ten while allowing five hits. During one stretch, he retired 16 of 17 batters before giving up a home run toBen Zobrist in the seventh. The win also snapped a nine-game postseason losing streak that began in1996 for the Rangers.

Longtime RangerMichael Young appeared in his first playoff game after playing in 1,508 games in his career. OnlyRandy Winn has played more games (1,717) without getting a shot in the postseason.^[12] Young was 0-for-4.

The Rangers got on the board in the second off of Rays aceDavid Price whenIan Kinsler hit a leadoff single and scored onJeff Francoeur's double. After a strikeout, Francoeur scored onBengie Molina's single.Nelson Cruz and Molina hit home runs in the third and fourth respectively andVladimir Guerrero hit an RBI double in the fifth. In the ninth inning, pitching in a non-save situation, Rangers closerNeftalí Feliz walked the first two batters, but then settled down and induced a lineout from Ben Zobrist before striking outReid Brignac andMatt Joyce to end the game.

The Rays still had no answers for both the Rangers' starting pitching and their offense.Matt Treanor was hit by a pitch, and eventually scored on Shields' pickoff error to first base in the third. Ian Kinsler hit a homer in the fourth to make it 2–0.

In the top of the fifth inning, with one out andJulio Borbon on base,Elvis Andrus hit a single. Shields was pulled, replaced byChad Qualls. After a controversialchecked swing call, Michael Young hit a three-run home run to extend the lead to 5–0. Rays managerJoe Maddon was ejected after arguing that Young's prior swing on the 2–2 pitch should have been called strike three. Ian Kinsler's RBI single later in the same inning made it 6–0 Rangers.

The Rays had their best chances in the bottom of the seventh inning.Ben Zobrist walked then advanced to third base onWilly Aybar's double. However,Kelly Shoppach andMatt Joyce both struck out, thenJason Bartlett hit a fly ball to center field to end the threat.

C. J. Wilson pitched6+1⁄3 shutout innings for Texas, giving up two hits and striking out seven while walking two.

In seeking their first franchise postseason home game win and series sweep, the Rangers sentColby Lewis to the mound to face the Rays' Matt Garza. The Rays were counting on the2008 ALCS MVP to come through once again and prevent a sweep.

The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the third inning.Mitch Moreland hit a lead-off double in the bottom of the third inning, advanced to third on a passed ball by Rays catcherJohn Jaso, then scored onElvis Andrus's RBI ground-out.

After being shut down for 16 consecutive innings in this series, the Rays finally came back to life. After walkingEvan Longoria, Lewis was replaced by relieverDerek Holland. The next hitterMatt Joyce hit a ground ball to Rangers second basemanIan Kinsler. Longoria was out at second base, but Joyce was ruled safe at first on a close play.Dan Johnson singled, but Joyce was tagged out at second base after a failed attempt to advance to third. Holland was replaced byAlexi Ogando after walkingCarlos Peña. Orgando gave up an RBI double toB. J. Upton that scored Johnson. The game was tied at 1–1.

Another controversial play occurred in the bottom of the sixth inning when Andrus stole second onJosh Hamilton's strikeout. Garza andMaddon argued with the second base umpireJeff Kellogg that Andrus' right leg did not stay on base.

Ian Kinsler's go-ahead homer in the bottom of the seventh inning took the lead for the Rangers and also knocked Garza out of the game.

Rays designated hitter Dan Johnson doubled in the top of the eighth inning, then Peña's RBI single scored pinch-runnerDesmond Jennings to tie the game at 2–2. Later, John Jaso hit a two-out RBI single that scored Peña. This was the Rays' first lead in the series.

Carl Crawford led off the top of the ninth inning with a home run. Later, Peña's two-run homer increased Rays' lead to four, which was enough for Rays closerRafael Soriano, despite a home run byNelson Cruz in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Rays scored first in the top of the second inning.Carlos Peña hit a triple that bounced over the head of Rangers center fielderJosh Hamilton, then scored on Rangers second basemanIan Kinsler's fielding error.

Back-to-back doubles byEvan Longoria and Peña in the top of the fourth inning brought in another run for the Rays. After two strikeouts,B. J. Upton hit the third double in this inning to score Peña.

Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer off Rangers relieverDerek Holland in the fifth inning to increase the Rays' lead to five.

The Rangers showed some sign of life whenNelson Cruz hit a home run, his third in this series, in the bottom of the sixth inning. LaterMitch Moreland's RBI double offGrant Balfour scored Ian Kinsler to make the score 5–2. After that, the Rays bullpen was excellent. Balfour got out of the inning and pitched a scoreless seventh, before handing it over to setup manJoaquín Benoit, a Ranger until this year. He worked a perfect eighth to pick up thehold.

Rays closerRafael Soriano then pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

The series was tied at two and the Rangers were unable to notch their first postseason home game win. It marked the first time since 2005 that a Division Series in either league went the full five games.

Game 5 featured a rematch of Game 1's two aces, the Rangers'Cliff Lee versus the Rays'David Price.

Elvis Andrus led off the game with a single, later stole second, and scored for the Rangers onJosh Hamilton's RBI ground-out in the top of the first inning. Rays' pitcher David Price was covering first on the play and was unaware of the runner rounding third. The Rays tied up the game in the bottom of the third inning whenSean Rodriguez scored onBen Zobrist's RBI single.

In the top of the fourth inning,Nelson Cruz hit a two-out double that barely missed being a home run in the deepest corner of the field, stole third, then scored on Rays' catcherKelly Shoppach's throwing error.

The Rangers got another run in the top of the sixth on a similar play to the one that occurred in the first.Ian Kinsler grounded the ball to first and the Rays attempted to turn a double play, with Price covering first. Once again, Price seemed to forget about the runner coming from second when he turned to the umpire to see the call.Vladimir Guerrero barely beat Price's throw to the plate and the Rangers led, 3–1. All three Texas runs in the game to this point had been scored due to some sort of defensive miscue. Price was relieved byGrant Balfour in the seventh inning, having gone six innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on eight hits, a slightly better line than his first game but not good enough to match Cliff Lee. Lee dominated the Rays through nine innings, allowing one earned run on six hits, with 11 strikeouts.

The Rangers got another two runs in the top of the ninth on Kinsler's two-run homer off Rays closerRafael Soriano. Cruz had singled before the homer, one of his three hits. Kinsler also had three hits for Texas.

Lee's complete game gem made this series the first MLB postseason series in which the visiting team won every game, and his 21 strikeouts in the two games combined set an ALDS record for most strikeouts in a series. Lee finished the series with a 1.13 ERA in the two games. It was the first playoff series the Texas Rangers had ever won after losing their first three Division Series appearances in1996,1998, and1999 (all to theNew York Yankees).

2010ALDS (3–2):Texas Rangers overTampa Bay Rays

Hoping to break their streak of postseason defeats against the Yankees, the Twins struck first in this first postseason game in Target Field. In the bottom of the second inning, Yankee starter CC Sabathia hit the leadoff hitter,Jim Thome, then allowed a two-run home run by Michael Cuddyer.Orlando Hudson scored onJorge Posada's passed ball to make it 3–0 in the bottom of the third inning.

Francisco Liriano held the Yankees scoreless until the top of the sixth inning. FollowingRobinson Canó's and Jorge Posada's RBI singles,Curtis Granderson's RBI triple scored both Canó and Posada, made it 4–3 Yankees, and knocked Liriano out of the game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning,Danny Valencia's walk tied the game at 4–4.

The Yankees took the lead again in the top of the seventh inning as MarkTeixeira hit a two-run homer to right field. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera's four-out save (his 40th career postseason save^[13]) sealed the Game 1 win.

In Game 2, 17-game winner Carl Pavano started for the Twins, hoping to even the series. Pavano faced Yankee veteranAndy Pettitte. Like in Game 1, the Twins struck first in the second inning whenDelmon Young scored on aDanny Valencia sacrifice fly.

The Yankees tied the game in the top of the fourth inning, asCurtis Granderson doubled, advanced to third base onMark Teixeira's single, then scored onAlex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly.

Designated hitterLance Berkman homered in the fifth inning to take the lead for the Yankees. However,Orlando Hudson tied it with a homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In the top of the seventh inning, Berkman's RBI double over the head of Twins center fielderDenard Span once again took the lead for the Yankees. LikeJoe Maddon did earlier in the Rangers–Rays game, Twins managerRon Gardenhire argued about the 1–2 borderline pitch right before Berkman's double and got ejected.^[14] Later,Derek Jeter's RBI single scored Berkman and made the score 4–2.

Granderson's RBI single scoredBrett Gardner in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning,Mariano Rivera gave up a leadoff single toJoe Mauer, but gotDelmon Young to ground into a double play and then induced a fly ball to left field from Jim Thome for the second consecutive save in the series.

This was Andy Pettitte's 19th career and final postseason win and Mariano Rivera's 41st postseason save; both are all-time postseason pitching records. Also, this was the 11th straight postseason loss for the Twins and eighth straight postseason loss against the Yankees.^[15]

The Yankees took an early lead this time in the bottom of the second inning whenRobinson Canó hit a lead-off triple, later scored onJorge Posada's RBI single.Nick Swisher hit a two-out double in the bottom of the third inning, then scored onMark Teixeira's RBI single to increase their lead to two.

Canó singled again in the bottom of the fourth inning. The next batter,Marcus Thames, who had a successful record against left-handerBrian Duensing this year, hit the first pitch he saw into right field. Later,Curtis Granderson walked, stole second, and advanced to third onJoe Mauer's throwing error.Brett Gardner's RBI sacrifice fly scored Granderson to make the score 5–0. Nick Swisher's homer in the bottom of the seventh inning increased the lead to six.

After being shut down by Hughes for seven innings, the Twins finally got on board in the top of the eighth inning.Danny Valencia hit a lead-off double off Yankees relieverKerry Wood. AfterJ. J. Hardy flew out, bothDenard Span andOrlando Hudson singled to score Valencia. Wood was removed from the game after walking Mauer. However, Yankees relieversBoone Logan andDavid Robertson induced a popout and a flyout respectively to get out of the one-out bases-loaded jam. Yankees closerMariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth for the series sweep.

This was the first time that the Yankees advanced to theALCS as the Wild Card (they lost all three in1995,1997, and2007), and this win marked the ninth time the Yankees advanced to the LCS since 1995, the most in MLB. The Minnesota Twins, with this loss, extended their postseason losing streak to 12 games, with nine of those coming against the Yankees.

2010 ALDS(3–0):New York Yankees overMinnesota Twins

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2010 American League Division Series.

• TB vs. TEX at Baseball-Reference
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• TB vs. TEX at ESPN
• MIN vs. NYY at ESPN

• 2010 Major League Baseball season
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• Tampa Bay Rays postseason
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