After changes, Rangers headed to 1st World Series

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Cliff Lee gets to pitch in an even bigger game for the AL champion Texas Rangers with the New York Yankees out of the way.

The ace left-hander didn't have to beat the defending champions again to put Texas in its first World Series, so the Rangers' prized midseason acquisition is set to start Game 1 on the biggest stage Wednesday in San Franciso against the NL champion Giants.

Lee is no stranger to the World Series. He won Games 1 and 5 for Philadelphia over New York last fall before the Phillies traded him to Seattle the same day they acquired Roy Halladay - the Phillies were eliminated by the Giants on Saturday night.

But the Rangers are newcomers, making the Fall Classic in the franchise's 50th season despite plenty of unexpected pitching changes along the way.

"We all started having a certain feeling at some point in time. They just kept fighting back and fighting back, and we started believing in them," said Rangers icon Nolan Ryan, the team president and part-owner. "They were determined to get it done."

While Lee was pitching for another AL West team at the start of the season, Scott Feldman and Rich Harden, the big addition last winter, topped the Texas rotation. Frank Francisco was expected to be the closer.

While none of that trio is pitching this fall, the team that used to never have enough pitching is going to the World Series.

The Rangers clinched their first AL pennant with a 6-1 victory over the Yankees in Game 6 of the AL championship series Friday night before a frenzied crowd of 51,404 at Rangers Ballpark - in the shadow of Cowboys Stadium, where the attention is usually focused in the fall.

Colby Lewis dominated over eight innings, winning for the second time in the series, before Neftali Feliz closed it out.

"This group of guys, I can't say enough. It's a great feeling," said Lee, who was ready to pitch Game 7 if needed, after a 13-strikeout performance against the Yankees in Game 3. "With this group of guys, if we keep playing the way we have, things are going to work out."

The Rangers dismissed the 27-time champion Bronx Bombers much the same way New York had knocked them out of the playoffs their previous three appearances in the second half of the 1990s.

There was little drama. Texas outscoring the Yankees 38-19, and all four wins were by at least five runs.

"My team never once thought that game was in hand, especially when you play a team like the New York Yankees," fourth-year manager Ron Washington said. "We knew we had to get 27 (outs). We knew we had to keep putting the pressure on. We knew we had to keep playing baseball, and they certainly did that."

The Rangers had never won a postseason series or even a home playoff game before this season. They took longer than any other club to get to the World Series for the first time. Montreal/Washington (42 seasons) and Seattle (34) haven't yet made it.

This was only the 17th winning record in 39 seasons since moving to Texas after the franchise started as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.

The Rangers already led the AL West by 5 1/2 games when they acquired Lee on July 9. They took over first place for good on June 8, a day after a loss to Lee and the Mariners.

"We were doing all of the things good teams do to win," said Hamilton, the ALCS MVP. "Playing small ball, power, playing defense, pitching well, all of these things. And we saw how it could work if we did all of those things and how good we could be."

"At that point, I think we started really believing in ourselves and believing that we were better than everybody else," he said.

Hamilton hit four home runs in the AL championship series and was intentionally walked five times, three in the clinching game.

"Well, he's a difference maker, and I always talk to Josh about presence," Washington said. "His presence in our lineup makes everyone else better. ... Josh didn't get a chance to swing the bat; Vlad did; Cruz did, and we put some runs on the board."

Right after Hamilton was given a free pass in the fifth inning Friday night, Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run single. Nelson Cruz followed with a homer for a 5-1 lead.

Guerrero signed with Texas for a guaranteed $6.5 million last winter after the Los Angeles showed little interest in retaining the former AL MVP. He's now going to the World Series for the first time in his 15 major league seasons.

Lewis was another addition last winter, returning to his original team after pitching the last two seasons in Japan. C.J. Wilson made the transition from the bullpen to the rotation and won 15 games.

But the top starters were supposed to be Feldman, who afterk0216caca-r s BC-BBN--NLCS-PhilliesEli 2ndLd-Writethru 10-24 0887

BC-BBN--NLCS-Phillies Eliminated, 2nd Ld-Writethru,0908

Phillies fall short of 3rd straight World Series

Eds: Updates with details, quotes.

By DAN GELSTON

AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ryan Howard can watch the World Series the same way he looked at the final pitch of the NLCS.

Without even swinging his bat.

The Fightin' Phillies turned into the Fizzlin' Phillies with runners in scoring position in the NLCS. They left 11 runners on base in Game 6 on Saturday night, and couldn't get the key hit no matter which pitcher they faced. It all added up to a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants in front of a stunned crowd at Citizens Bank Park.

The bats will get the blame for this loss - and for the rest of the series.

"That's the spot everybody dreams about being in," Howard said. "Game on the line. This time, came up short."

The Phillies, who have won four consecutive NL East titles, were shooting for their third World Series appearance in a row. Instead, they walked off the field with their heads down, as the Giants celebrated on their pitcher's mound.

"Sometimes, you can try too hard, and then you get tense at the plate," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We never played the kind of offense that I think we're capable of."

In an end that fit the Phils' offensive woes, Brian Wilson struck out Howard looking with the tying run at second base. Howard had no RBIs - none! - in the postseason after knocking in 108 in the regular season.

A visibly upset Howard said a few words to the umpire and slowly trudged back to the dugout in the ninth, as the Giants went wild in celebration in about the same spot where the Phillies did when Brad Lidge recorded the final out of the 2008 World Series to send the city into an offseason frenzy.

No such luck this time. Instead, this offseason will be filled with second guessing.

Howard said he thought the full-count slider was down for ball four.

"He kind of paused before he made the call," Howard said. "It's kind of a tough way to end the season and end the game. If you're going to call it, call it. Don't hesitate and make the call. But you can't go back and reverse it."

The Phillies hit .178 (8 for 45) with four doubles, no triples and no homers with runners in scoring position in the series, including 2 for 11 in the finale.

Howard tied an NLCS record with 12 strikeouts in the series. Chase Utley had just one RBI.

"We had our opportunities. We just couldn't get the big hit," Manuel said. "That's baseball. That's the way it goes sometimes."

Philadelphia scored two runs in the first inning - then nothing. Even though they chased Jonathan Sanchez after he hit Chase Utley with a pitch in the third inning that cleared both benches, they couldn't cash in. Even after the skirmish briefly fired up the Phillies, they couldn't take advantage.

Jeremy Affeldt relieved with runners on first and second and struck out Howard, got Jayson Werth on a flyout and retired Shane Victorino to end the threat.

The Phillies' struggles with runners in scoring position continued in the middle innings. Jimmy Rollins opened the fifth with a single. Howard's two-out double put runners on second and third and Werth was intentionally walked. Madison Bumgarner, however, pitched out of the bases-loaded jam when he got Victorino on a comebacker.

It got worse for the Phillies in the sixth when they wasted Raul Ibanez's leadoff double. He advanced to third on a sacrifice and was left there after Bumgarner struck out pinch-hitter Ben Francisco - batting for starting pitcher Roy Oswalt - looking, and retired Rollins.

Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, the Phillies put runners on first and second against Tim Lincecum. Wilson relieved him and promptly got Carlos Ruiz to line into an inning-ending double play.

Rollins, Werth and Polanco combined for 14 of Philadelphia's 18 RBIs in six games.

The Phillies - like an optimistic Manuel pointed out in his postgame press conference - are in strong shape for another NL East run, despite the loss. Werth, the starting right fielder, is the only marquee free agent. He'll likely move on and the Phillies can replace him with top minor-league prospect Dom Brown.

But for the next six months, what will be analyzed is the way they whiffed their way back down the ladder - World Series title against Tampa Bay in 2008, World Series loss against the Yankees in 2009 and now, an NLCS loss to San Francisco.

The Phillies were trying to become the first NL team to win three straight pennants since the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals. Instead, the Giants will meet the Texas Rangers, beginning on Wednesday.

"It's definitely frustrating," Howard said. "We weren't able to play to our whole potential and we know that."