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Yankees-Rangers Preview

Sep 12, 2010 - 6:55 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

New York (87-55) at Texas (79-63), 3:05 p.m. EDT

The Texas Rangers and New York Yankees have one regular-season meeting left, but they may not have seen the last of each other. Regardless of whether these clubs meet in the division series, Rangers manager Ron Washington expects a healthy Cliff Lee to start the playoff opener.

After missing his last start with a sore back, Lee is expected to take the ball Sunday as the AL West-leading Rangers go for their first sweep of the Yankees in Arlington since 1996.

With a 7 1/2-game lead over Oakland with 20 to play, Texas (79-63) will, barring a major collapse, likely win its first division title since 1999.

Pending injuries or other unexpected changes in the rotation, Washington already has his staff lined up for the remainder of the regular season.

"If all of that works out, Cliff Lee will get the first game (of the playoffs)," Washington told the Rangers' website prior to Saturday's 7-6 win.

Despite the vote of confidence in the left-hander, Lee (10-8, 3.37 ERA) is just 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA since the Rangers acquired from Seattle on July 9, and he hasn't won since Aug. 6. After giving up seven runs - four earned - and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 10-9 loss at Kansas City on Aug. 31, the 2008 AL Cy Young winner complained of a sore back and received a cortisone shot.

Lee, who is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last four outings, missed his last scheduled start but threw a full bullpen session Tuesday.

"It's definitely getting better," he said. "... So it's definitely a good sign and things are heading the right way."

Lee, 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA in two starts against the Yankees (87-55) this season, will try to lead the Rangers to their fifth straight victory overall and first sweep in this matchup since May 16-18, 2003, at the old Yankee Stadium. New York hasn't been swept in Arlington since April 6-7, 1996.

The Yankees were a major league-best 76-0 this season when leading after eight innings until Saturday, when Mariano Rivera gave up two runs and hit Jeff Francoeur with the bases loaded to end the game. It marked the first time in Rangers history they won a game on a hit batter.

"That's a first for me - I'm pretty sure I won't see it again," third baseman Michael Young said.

While Texas is counting down to a West title, the Yankees have lost five of six and hold a one-half game advantage in the East over the Tampa Bay Rays, whom they face seven times in 10 games following this series.

Before opening a series in St. Petersburg on Monday, the Yankees will look to salvage one game in Arlington with right-hander Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.83) on the mound. Phil Hughes had been scheduled to start, but has been pushed back to face Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

This will be Moseley's first start since allowing four runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings of an 11-5 victory over Oakland on Aug. 30. He yielded one hit in one-third of an inning of relief Sept. 4 versus Toronto. .

Rangers designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, Moseley's teammate in Anaheim from 2006-09, is batting .452 with a homer and five RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak. Guerrero has never faced Moseley.

Yankees designated hitter Lance Berkman is 11 for 22 since being removed from the disabled list Sept. 1.

Derek Jeter will likely return to the New York lineup after sitting Saturday. The 36-year-old captain has seven hits in his last 61 at-bats, but is 14 for 34 with three doubles and a triple lifetime versus Lee.

Alex Rodriguez, whose bases-clearing double gave the Yankees a 6-5 eighth-inning lead Saturday, is one RBI shy of matching Frank Robinson for 19th all-time with 1,812.

Texas needs a win to avoid losing the season series to New York for the sixth time in seven years.