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2B – Daily News – Thursday, October 7, 2010 Cruz, Molina homer to support Lee Texas 5 Game 1 Tampa Bay 1 TEX 1-0 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Cliff Lee, postseason ace for hire. Picking up where he left off during in a dazzling October run a year ago, Lee shut down the Tampa Bay Rays while outpitching David Price and leading the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 vic- tory Wednesday in the opening game of the AL playoffs. ‘‘I like pitching on a big stage,’’ Lee said. ‘‘Just pitching in the big leagues alone is an honor, but when you get an opportunity to make it to the postsea- son that’s what it’s all about. That’s what you play all year for. I enjoy it, and I try to have fun with it.’’ These days, no pitcher is doing it better. Lee matched a postseason best with 10 strikeouts while allowing five hits — just two after escaping a bases- loaded jam in the first inning. During one dominating stretch, he retired 16 of 17 batters before giving up Ben Zobrist’s homer in the seventh. ‘‘It’s not time to sit here and pat myself on the back. We’ve got a lot of work to do,’’ Lee said. ‘‘I feel good about helping us get off to a good start, and hopefully I can continue to do the same. That’s what I expect to do.’’ Game 2 is Thursday with left-han- der C.J. Wilson taking the mound for Texas against right-hander James Shields, who hasn’t won since Aug. 29. Lee improved to 5-0 in six career postseason starts. He went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five starts for the Philadel- phia Phillies in 2009, including 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA against the New York Yankees in the World Series. The 32-year-old lefty lost to the Rays three times during the regular season, however the AL East champi- ons were no match for the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner this time. The Rangers, in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, stopped a nine- game postseason losing streak that began in 1996. Nelson Cruz and Bengie Molina homered for the AL West champions. Darren O’Day and Darren Oliver pitched the eighth, and rookie Neftali Feliz worked out of a ninth-inning jam by striking out the final two batters. Price, a 19-game winner, allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck eight and, like Lee, walked none. ‘‘It’s very frustrating,’’ Price said. ‘‘I wasn’t at my best. It’s tough to swal- low.’’ Lee began this season with the Seat- tle Mariners, who dealt him in early July to Texas, which was looking to bolster its rotation with a No. 1 starter capable of leading the Rangers deep into the postseason. Philadelphia acquired him from Cleveland during last year’s run to the NL pennant, and the lefty is eligible for free agency after the season. The Rays beat him twice while he was with the Mariners, and once with the Rangers during Tampa Bay’s three- game sweep of Texas at Tropicana Field in August. Tampa Bay had PHILLY (Continued from page 1B) Ramon Hernandez popped out to second base- man Chase Utley for the first out. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo then fouled out to third baseman Wilson Valdez. Halladay then retired Brandon Phillips on a tapper in front of the plate to end it. Catcher Carlos Ruiz pounced on the ball, getting down on his knee as the ball rolled near Phillips’ bat, and made a strong throw for the final out. ‘‘If I was catching, I prob- ably would’ve picked up the ball and bat and threw them both,’’ Phils manager Charlie Manuel said. Halladay pumped his fist into his glove as Ruiz rushed to the mound. Just like catch- er Yogi Berra did with Larsen, Ruiz started to jump into Halladay’s arms. Unlike Berra, the 5-foot-8 Ruiz did- n’t wrap up his pitcher in a bear hug. ‘‘I felt like we got in a groove early,’’ Halladay said. ‘‘Carlos has been great all year, he helps me get into a rhythm early, throwing strikes.’’ Phillies aces Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels ran out of the dugout side-by-side to congratulate the other mem- ber of Philadelphia’s Big 3. Pretty soon, everyone in a Phillies uniform was part of the victory party. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins made the toughest play to preserve the no-hitter, going deep in the hole and making a strong throw to retire Votto in the fourth. Sharks look to build on last season’s playoff run San Jose Sharks SAN JOSE (AP) — There was a far different mindset surrounding the San Jose Sharks as they prepared to open this season. After spending the past few years doing their best to for- get about the previous season’s playoff disappointment, the Sharks enter this season looking to build on a run to the Western Conference final and finally get to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in franchise history. ‘‘I used the analogy of us driving a car up a hill and it got to the point where it stalled last year,’’ coach Todd McLellan said. ‘‘We’re there right now. We can either grow and get that momentum going again and try to keep climbing. Or if we let that momentum slip, the car will start rolling down the hill and it’s going to be a tough one to stop. We need growth.’’ McLellan, entering his third season at the helm in San Jose, emphasized that the growth needs to come from well- established veterans like Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle; emerging young stars like Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi; and promising young players like Jason Demers and Logan Couture. ‘‘I really believe once you stop growing you start decay- MCT photo Cliff Lee is greeted by his Rangers’ teammates,Wednesday, after pitching out of a jam in the first inning opportunities against Lee early, but failed to score after Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria singled to load the bases in the first. After giv- ing up a leadoff double to Zobrist in the second, Lee retired 12 batters in a row in front of a sellout crowd of 35,474. ‘‘Just locating pitches, working ahead in the count,’’ Lee said. ‘‘When I got out of the first inning, I knew things were going to go well.’’ For Tampa Bay, it was a continua- tion of an offensive funk that began two weeks ago. The Rays lost six of 10 games down the stretch — all against last-place teams — before clinching their second division title in three years on the last day of the season. They dropped five of six during part of the stretch, three by shutout. Texas is in the postseason for first time since 1999 and its nine-game playoff losing streak had matched Min- nesota and the Chicago Cubs for the longest active skid in the major leagues. All three of the Rangers’ pre- vious playoff series were against New York, with their only other postseason victory coming against the Yankees on Oct. 1, 1996. ‘‘I thought the game was really kind of won or loss there in the first inning,’’ Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux said. ‘‘Both pitchers had their backs to the wall. Cliff got a couple big pun- chouts there. He gave up three hits in the first ... no hard contacts. He battled up right there and put up a huge dough- nut. That was a big zero. Then we come back and we score. Momentum kind of went our way and Clifford got better as he went along.’’ Price played a key role in Tampa Bay’s surprising run to the World Series two years ago, coming out of the bullpen as a rookie with less than a month’s experience in the majors to get Pitcher Travis Wood hit a sinking liner to right that Jayson Werth caught in the third. Pinch-hitter Juan Fran- cisco hit a hard grounder up the middle in the sixth, but Rollins scooted over and made it look easy. There were five no-hitters in the majors this year as pitchers dominated. But five no-hit bids got broken up in the ninth inning, too. Halladay became the fifth pitcher to throw two no-hit- ters in the same year. He joined Nolan Ryan (1973), Virgil Trucks (1952), Allie Reynolds (1951) and Johnny Vander Meer (1938). The last time a pitcher came close to a no-hitter in the postseason was quite a while ago. Boston’s Jim Lonborg went 7 2-3 innings against St. Louis in the 1967 World Series before Julian Javier broke up it with a dou- ble, STATS LLC said. The Phillies led the majors in wins (97) for the first time in franchise history, captured their fourth consec- utive division title and are trying to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants. They are prohibitive favorites in this best-of-five against the NL Central champion Reds, who are making their first postseason appearance since 1995. Game 2 is Friday at Philadelphia. The Reds led the NL in average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790). But they couldn’t do anything against Halladay, who won 21 games and is a strong candi- date to win his second Cy Young Award. the final four outs against Boston in Game 7 of the AL championship series. He won 19 games this season, had the AL’s third-lowest ERA of 2.73, and became the youngest pitcher to start an All-Star game since Dwight Gooden in 1988. He has never beaten the Rangers, going 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA — his highest against an AL opponent — in four regular-season starts. The Rangers came out swinging. Jeff Francoeur hit a run-scoring double and scored on Molina’s single in the second. Cruz added a 438-foot homer to straightaway center in the third. Molina connected in the fourth, and Vladimir Guerrero’s double off the center-field wall on a 3-0 pitch gave Lee a five-run cushion in the fifth. Cruz’s homer also came on a 3-0 pitch. ‘‘That’s probably the most aggres- sive somebody’s been against me as long as I can remember,’’ Price said. Longoria returned to Tampa Bay’s lineup after missing the final 10 games of the regular season with a strained left quadriceps. He singled between shortstop and third base in the first to load the bases against Lee, who escaped the jam by striking out Carlos Pena and Rocco Baldelli. Depending on which clubhouse you were in, Lee got some help from plate umpire Tim Welke to get out of the first, when Pena and Rays manager Joe Maddon argued that a 2-1 pitch hit Pena instead of glancing off the bat for a strike. That would have forced in a run for a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead. ‘‘It definitely hit something. I could hear it from the mound,’’ Lee said. ‘‘When he did not start jumping around and didn’t want to go to first base, I had a pretty good feeling it hit the bat.’’ The 33-year-old Halladay topped the NL in victories and led the majors in innings, shutouts and complete games. He was at the top of his game from the get-go in Game 1. A determined, intense Halladay got ahead of hitters and worked quickly. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the first 18 batters. ‘‘It was great managing,’’ Manuel joked. ‘‘He was very good. He had a tremendous feel. He sold his pitches well.’’ Halladay even did it at the plate. He ignited a three-run, two-out rally in the second with an RBI single. On the opposite side, 27- year-old Edinson Volquez looked like a postseason rookie. He never seemed to get comfortable on the mound, taking his time between pitches, tugging at his cap and long dreadlocks and breathing deeply. At one point, Hernandez, from his crouched position behind the plate, motioned for him to calm down. Volquez allowed four runs and four hits in 1 2-3 innings. The hard-throwing right-hander was 4-3 in 12 starts this season after return- ing from elbow surgery. Halladay was so eager to join the Phillies that he passed up a chance to test free agency after this season and signed a $60 million, three-year extension to com- plete a trade. Halladay prob- ably would’ve received the richest contract ever for a pitcher if he held off, but he wanted to play in Philadel- phia. There was much talk down the stretch about Hal- laday’s inexperience in the postseason. The Phillies also have Oswalt and Hamels. Both pitchers have been dominant in previous playoff games, but Halladay got the ball and didn’t disappoint. Halladay got his first strikeout in the second, fool- ing Scott Rolen on an 85 mph changeup. He caught Rolen looking at a fastball on the outside corner to start the fifth, and fanned him again on a 79 mph changeup in the seventh. The Phillies gave Halla- day all the runs he would need in the first. Shane Victorino sliced a one-out double down the left-field line. He stole third and scored on Utley’s sacri- fice fly to right. A fired-up Victorino slid headfirst bare- ly ahead of Bruce’s strong one-hop throw, got up and patted plate umpire John Hirschbeck on the behind on his way to the dugout. Ruiz drew a two-out walk in the second and Valdez bounced an infield single that shortstop Orlando Cabrera fielded on the second-base side of the infield. Halladay then hit a hard liner to left that fell in ahead of Jonny Gomes’ sliding attempt. Ruiz scored to make it 2-0. After Rollins walked to load the bases, Victorino chased Volquez with a two-run sin- gle. With the crowd waving their white-and-red ‘‘Fightin’ Phils’’ rally towels, Victorino fouled off consecutive 3-2 pitches before lining a hit to left-center for a 4-0 lead. The Phillies got swept by the Reds in the 1976 NLCS. ing,’’ McLellan said. ‘‘Let’s not go there as a group or an individual.’’ Last season’s playoff run was a case of growth for a fran- chise that has endured so much early postseason disappoint- ment in recent years. After getting knocked out in the second round in the first three seasons after the lockout, the tag of playoff underachievers became even heavier when the best record in the NHL in 2008-09 was spoiled by a first-round loss at Anaheim in the playoffs. The Sharks once again earned the top seed in the Western Conference a year ago and managed to break through by knocking out Colorado and Detroit in the first two rounds. Then they were swept in the Western Conference final by the speedier Chicago Blackhawks, who won three tight games on their way to the Stanley Cup championship. ‘‘To build upon last year is a positive thing,’’ general man- ager Doug Wilson said. ‘‘We’re all products of experiential learning. They got a taste of it. They want to get to that next level. It’s an incremental increase. Todd uses the term growth. Whether it’s 1 or 2 percent better, every one of these guys has to get better and that makes us a better team.’’ While the measurement of that growth won’t come until after the playoffs are over, the work began in informal sum- mer practices and continued through training camp. Now the Sharks need to show that growth on the ice, beginning when their regular season opens Friday in Sweden against Columbus. ‘‘The worst thing that can happen here is everybody expects this team to be a playoff team,’’ Boyle said. ‘‘We have 82 games to get there. We can’t just assume that we’re going to be there. I don’t want guys to assume that, yeah we’re a good hockey team and we’re going to be in the play- offs. We have to work and earn it.’’ There have been some key personnel changes from a year ago, most notably in goal. Longtime starter Evgeni Nabokov was allowed to leave as a free agent to play in Russia as the Sharks looked for a lower-cost option in net. Wilson then signed Antero Niittymaki to a $4 million, two-year contract on the first day of free agency but didn’t stop there. After Antti Niemi was let go by the Blackhawks in a salary cap move, the Sharks signed their former nemesis to a one-year, $2 million deal in August. That created a crowded goalie position that still includes last year’s backup, Thomas Greiss. After starting Nabokov an average of 70 games over the past three seasons, the Sharks figure to have a more equitable distribution of the playing time this season. ‘‘I need to find more out about these individuals, find out how they respond to back-to-back games, how their team- mates will play in front of them,’’ McLellan said. ‘‘For me to sit here and say they’re going to be 50-50 and alternate games, I’d be lying to you. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet.’’ The other major departure came when captain Rob Blake announced his retirement. Philadelphia won a fran- chise-record 101 games that season to snap a 25-year playoff drought. But the Phillies ran into the Big Red Machine, which swept through the postseason to win its second consecutive World Series title. It’s a reversed situation now. The Phillies — call them the New Red Machine — are perhaps MLB Divisional Playoffs Best-of-5 Wednesday’s results New York 6, Minnesota 4 New York leads series 1-0 Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 0 Philadelphia leads series 1-0 Texas 5, Tampa Bay 1 Texas leads series 1-0 Today’s games Atlanta (Lowe 16-12) at S.F.(Lincecum 16-10),6:37 p.m.,TBS Series tied 0-0 Texas (Wilson 15-8) at T.B.(Shields 13-15), 11:37 a.m., TBS Texas leads series 1-0 New York (Pettitte 11-3) at Minnesota (Pavano 17-11), 3:07 p.m., TBS New York leads series 1-0 Friday’s games Atlanta (Hanson 10-11) at San Francisco (Cain 13-11),6:37 p.m. Cincinnati (Arroyo 17-10) at Philadelphia (Oswalt 13-13), 3:07 p.m. Philadelphia leads series 1-0 Saturday’s games Tampa Bay (Garza 15-10) at Texas (Lewis 12-13), 2:07 p.m. Minnesota (Duensing 10-3) at New York (Hughes 18-8), 5:37 p.m ODDS Glantz-Culver Line For Oct.7 Major League Baseball at San Fran -155 Atlanta +145 at Tampa Bay -105 Texas New York NCAAFootball Nebraska 12 (50.5) at Kansas St. NFL at Baltimore at Buffalo NCAA Today’s Top 25 game No.7 Nebraska at Kan.St., 4:30 p.m., ESPN NHL Today’s games Carolina at Minnesota, 9 a.m., VERSUS Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., VERSUS Montreal at Toronto, 4 p.m. Chicago at Colorado, 7 p.m., VERSUS Calgary at Edmonton, 7 p.m. at Minnesota -120 at Pittsburgh -175 at Toronto -135 Chicago -125 at Edmonton -110 at Cincinnati Chicago Green Bay at Houston 7 (38.5) Denver at Indianapolis 8 (44) Kansas City at Detroit Atlanta Pk (41) Jacksonville 3 (43) St. Louis 3 (40.5) atCleveland 6.5 (38) TampaBay 2.5 (35.5) atCarolina New Orleans 6.5 (45.5) San Diego at Dallas 6 (45) at San Francisco 3.5 (38) at N.Y.Jets 4 (39) NHL 2.5 (44) atWashington 3 (47.5) N.Y.Giants at Arizona atOakland 6.5 (41.5) Tennessee Philadelphia Minnesota Carolina +100 Philadelphia +155 Montreal +115 at Colorado+105 Calgary -110 -105 -115 at Minn. +105 in the middle of a dynasty, while Cincinnati is the young team on the rise. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-Galaxy 16 6 5 53 40 22 x-Salt Lake 14 4 9 51 41 18 x-FC Dallas 12 2 13 49 39 22 Seattle 12 9 6 42 34 31 Colorado 11 8 8 41 37 27 QUAKES 11 8 7 40 28 28 Houston 7 14 6 27 36 46 Chivas USA 7 15 4 25 26 36 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA x-New York 14 8 5 47 35 27 x-Columbus 13 7 7 46 35 29 Kansas City 9 11 6 33 29 31 Toronto FC 8 12 7 31 28 34 Chicago 7 11 8 29 31 35 Philadelphia 7 13 7 28 32 44 New England 7 15 5 26 29 47 D.C. ————————————————— Today’s game Los Angeles at Philadelphia, 5 p.m., ESPN2 6 18 3 21 19 42 NOTE:Three points for victory, one point for tie. x- clinched playoff berth