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2B – Daily News – Friday, October 8, 2010 Young’s 3-run homer lifts Rangers Texas 6 Game 2 Tampa Bay 0 TEX2-0 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Gratified to finally be in the playoffs, Michael Young and the Texas Rangers are making the most of their opportuni- ty. Young hit a three-run homer one pitch after keeping his at-bat alive with a disputed check-swing, helping C.J. Wilson and the AL West champions beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 Thurs- day for a 2-0 lead in their division series. ‘‘I just think that we’ve had a great mentality these first two games,’’ Young said. ‘‘We’re not really thinking about some huge, grand picture here. We empty the bank for the game we’re playing that day.’’ Texas is the only current major league franchise that’s never won a playoff series. After winning consecu- tive games on the road, that can change with one victory when the best-of-five matchup shifts to Rangers Ballpark this weekend. Game 3 is Saturday, with Matt Garza pitching for Tampa Bay against Colby Lewis. ‘‘Being up 2-0 is huge, especially winning two on the road. But we still haven’t accomplished anything yet,’’ Rangers manager Ron Washington said. ‘‘Our goal is to get as far as we possibly can, and we’re just going to take it back to Texas and come out and try to play as hard as we can again.’’ Ian Kinsler also homered for the Rangers, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999 and hadn’t won a postseason game in 14 years before Cliff Lee shut down the sputtering Rays in their home park on Wednes- day. Wilson was equally impressive, allowing two hits in 6 2-3 innings. He gave up a single to leadoff man Jason Bartlett to start the game, then limited the Rays to just three baserunners on an error, a walk and a hit batter over the next five innings. Willy Aybar doubled in the seventh for the second hit off the Texas starter, who departed with runners at second and third. Darren O’Day struck out pinch-hitter Matt Joyce, and Darren Oliver got seven outs to finish the two- hitter before a sellout crowd of 35,535. Long known for fielding powerful lineups, the Rangers finally look as though they have the arms to match. ‘‘The story today was our pitching,’’ said Young, who lauded the ‘‘total team effort’’ that has Texas on the verge of making franchise history. Young’s first playoff hit was a mas- sive homer. Before Wednesday, the six-time All-Star had played 1,508 career games without appearing in the postseason — the second-most among active players behind Randy Winn’s 1,717. ‘‘Mike is our backbone,’’ Wilson said. ‘‘He’s our Derek Jeter or our Cal Ripken or whatever. That’s our guy. YANKS (Continued from page 1B) kees were sure on the ball in the fourth — and they really got to him in the seventh. Derek Jeter chased his old teammate off the mound with a half-swing RBI single to make it 4-2. Curtis Granderson scored New York’s first run and came up with three more hits. And the Yankees headed back home GIANTS (Continued from page 1B) four hits in 5 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked four. Lincecum, still hitting 91 mph on the radar gun in the ninth, became the first pitch- er to record 12 strikeouts or more in the playoffs since Roger Clemens had 15 for the New York Yankees against Seattle in the 2000 AL championship series. Lowe was done after giv- ing up Posey’s double and a walk in the sixth. That delighted the orange towel- waving sellout crowd of 43,936 at AT&T Park, which drew the largest attendance for a postseason game in the ballpark’s 11-year history. Ross delivered in the fourth after Lowe intention- ally walked Pablo Sandoval. Ross is one of a handful of late acquisitions to contribute to the Giants’ first NL West title and playoff berth since 2003. Making his playoff debut at age 26 and in his third full major league season, Lince- cum looked every bit an ace. He was sharp throughout, walking only one. This is the same pitcher whose career- SAN DIEGO (2-2) at OAKLAND (1-3) Sunday, 1:15 p.m., CBS OPENING LINE — Chargers by 5 RECORD VS. SPREAD — San Diego 2-2, Oakland 1-3 SERIES RECORD — Raiders lead 55-44-2 LAST MEETING — Chargers beat Raiders 24-16, Nov. 1, 2009 MCT photo Josh Hamilton tracks down a fly ball Thursday in the ALDS. We rely on him for all sorts of stuff.’’ Young said he’s only interesting in winning. ‘‘For me personally, this personal stuff goes out the window. It’s always nice to contribute and nice to play well,’’ the third baseman said. ‘‘We’re competitors, we want to do our jobs well. But at the end of the day, the ‘W’ is what every team is searching for.’’ The Rays, whose .247 batting aver- age was the lowest for an AL club that made the postseason since the 1981 Oakland Athletics, were held to eight hits in two games at Tropicana Field, where they had one of the best home records in the league this season. Texas pitchers fanned 23 batters in two days, which is not surprising. Tampa Bay’s 1,292 strikeouts this sea- son were the most by a major league team that reached the playoffs. ‘‘They pitched two really good games, so there’s not too much you can do about that,’’ Carl Crawford said. ‘‘We’ve just got to hope we can get the next guy that’s coming.’’ Young broke the game open in the fifth with a 431-foot shot to center field off Chad Qualls, who thought he had a strikeout on a 2-2 pitch. Plate umpire Jim Wolf — the brother of Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf — appealed to first base umpire Jerry Meals, who ruled that Young held up in time. Rays players were incensed on the bench, and replays showed that Young probably went too far. After the home run on the next pitch for a 5-0 Rangers lead, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon left the dugout to talk with Qualls and was ejected by Wolf after he yelled at Meals from the mound. ‘‘Once he said safe, I’ve got to turn the page and focus on the next pitch,’’ Young said. ‘‘It’s really not my job to make decisions there.’’ Maddon also disputed a crucial call early in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to Lee. Plate umpire Tim Welke said a pitch hit Carlos Pena’s bat with the bases loaded in the first inning, ruling it a foul tip. for Game 3 on Saturday night with a commanding lead over the team they own in October. ‘‘We’ve got a big hill to climb. It’s not going to be easy, but it can be done,’’ Gardenhire said. ‘‘We’ve seen it done before, and this club is never going to quit.’’ Pettitte retired 12 in a row until Orlando Hudson’s homer tied it at 2 in the sixth. He needed only 88 pitches to finish seven innings, with worst five-start losing streak began with a defeat Aug. 5 at Atlanta. Lincecum allowed a lead- off double to Omar Infante to start the game, then retired the next nine Braves batters in order before Jason Hey- ward drew a leadoff walk in the fourth. The stretch included five straight swing- ing strikeouts in the heart of FOOTBALL Week 6 Schedule Today’s games Lassen at Red Bluff, 7:30 p.m. Los Molinos at Biggs, 7:30 p.m. West Valley at Corning, 7:30 p.m. Anderson at Sutter, 7:30 p.m. Burney at Fall River, 7:30 p.m. Central Valley at Yreka, 7:30 p.m. Chico at Oroville, 7:30 p.m. Esparto at Portola, 7:30 p.m. Etna at Tulelake, 7:30 p.m. Foothill at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m. Gridley at Orland, 7:30 p.m. Hamilton at Williams, 7:30 p.m. Las Plumas at Paradise, 7:30 p.m. Live Oak at East Nicolaus, 7:30 p.m. Maxwell at Chester, 7:30 p.m. Mt. Shasta at Pierce, 7:30 p.m. Pleasant Valley at Shasta, 7:30 p.m. Quincy at Colusa, 7:30 p.m. Trinity at University Prep, 7:30 p.m. Weed at Modoc, 7:30 p.m. Wheatland at Winters, 7:30 p.m. Willows at Durham, 7:30 p.m. Today’s 8-man games Champion Christian at Elk Creek, 7 p.m. Hayfork at Dunsmuir, 7 p.m. Herlong at Big Valley, 7 p.m. Liberty Christian at Happy Camp, 6 p.m. Loyalton at Princeton, 3:30 p.m. Westwood at Greenville, 7 p.m. Saturday’s 8-man game Butte Valley at Mercy, Noon Maddon unsuccessfully argued that Pena was hit by the pitch. Tampa Bay failed to score when Pena and Rocco Baldelli struck out. ‘‘The Rangers have outplayed us for two consecutive nights, so I’ve got to give them all the credit,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘You can’t win games by just getting two hits, but I had to make my point. ... That’s all that was about.’’ Maddon became the 15th manager to be ejected from a postseason game and first since Tony La Russa was thrown out of St. Louis’ 2-1 loss at Houston in Game 4 of the NL champi- onship series on Oct. 16, 2005, accord- ing to research by STATS LLC. Welke, the umpire crew chief, thought Wolf and Meals ‘‘showed a lot of restraint’’ before Maddon was tossed. ‘‘Obviously, it’s a judgment call,’’ Welke told a pool reporter. ‘‘He felt it was close, but he felt he didn’t go, and that’s what he said.’’ Kinsler homered in the fourth off losing pitcher James Shields, who got the Game 2 assignment for Tampa Bay even though he lost 15 games during the regular season and hadn’t won since Aug. 29. The right-hander allowed four runs and four hits over 4 1-3 innings. Kinsler also had an RBI single off Qualls in the fifth. With the Rays facing a lefty starter for the second straight day, Maddon held the struggling Pena out of the line- up. Wilson has been extremely tough on left-handed batter this season, and Pena — whose .196 batting average was the lowest among all major league qualifiers — went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts against Lee on Wednesday. The Rangers manufactured a run in the third. Matt Treanor was hit by a pitch, moved from second to third on an infield single and scored when Shields made an errant pickoff throw. The right-hander tried to pick off Elvis Andrus at first base, but the throw hit Andrus and skipped into foul territory. five hits and two runs allowed. He walked one and struck out four, deftly escap- ing a couple of tricky spots. ‘‘I just think the biggest part of it is being able to con- trol your emotions,’’ Pettitte said, pointing to his ‘‘tunnel vision’’ in critical situations. ‘‘Nothing’s going to faze you. Nothing’s going to make you nervous.’’ The old man, as Hudson respectfully referred to him the night before, broke a Atlanta’s order. It was a tough night for a Braves team playing without injured All-Star infielder Martin Prado, who sustained a season-ending torn oblique muscle and hip pointer Sept. 27. That was a big blow con- sidering he batted .307 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs. ODDS Glantz-Culver Line For Oct. 8 Major League Baseball at Philadelphia -190 Cincinnati +180 at San Francisco -150 NCAAFootball Connecticut 5.5(41.5) atRutgers Oklahoma St. 24 (62) atLa.-Lafayette NFL at Baltimore 7 (38.5) at Buffalo Denver at Indianapolis 7.5 (45) KansasCity at Detroit Atlanta Pk (41) Jacksonville 3 (43) at Cincinnati 6.5 (38) TampaBay at Carolina Green Bay at Houston 3 (40.5) atCleveland 1 (33.5) New Orleans 7 (45) San Diego at Dallas 6 (45) at San Francisco 3 (38) Philadelphia at N.Y. Jets NHL Carolina-x -120 San Jose-y -200 at Detroit -200 at New Jersey-200 at Ottawa -140 Washington -165 x-at Helsinki y-at Stockholm Minnesota +100 Columbus +170 Anaheim +170 Dallas +170 Buffalo+ 120 atAtlanta +145 St.Louis Chicago 2.5 (44) atWashington 3 (47.5) N.Y.Giants atArizona atOakland 7 (41.5) Tennessee 4 (39) Minnesota Atlanta+140 bunch of bats and was able to escape a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sec- ond by allowing Danny Valencia’s only sacrifice fly. Pettitte spoke the day before about how, while he doesn’t change his approach, these October appearances simply feel different to him. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Ducks Dallas Kings WL OT Pts GF GA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Phoenix 0 0 0 0 0 0 SHARKS 00 0 0 0 0 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0 Columbus 0 0 0 0 0 0 Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nashville 0 0 0 0 0 0 St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Calgary 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colorado 0 0 0 0 0 0 Edmonton 0 0 0 0 0 0 Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 Minnesota 0 1 0 0 3 4 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 1 0 0 2 3 2 New Jersey 0 0 0 0 0 0 N.Y. Islanders0 0 0 0 0 0 N.Y. Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pittsburgh 0 1 0 0 2 3 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Toronto 1 0 0 2 3 2 Boston Buffalo Ottawa Montreal 0 1 0 0 2 3 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Carolina 1 0 0 2 4 3 Atlanta Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tampa Bay 0 0 0 0 0 0 Washington 0 0 0 0 0 0 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Thursday’s results Carolina 4, Minnesota 3 Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 2 Toronto 3, Montreal 2 Chicago at Colorado, late Calgary at Edmonton, late Today’s games San Jose at Columbus, Noon,VERSUS Minnesota at Carolina, 9 a.m., VERSUS Dallas at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Anaheim at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Buffalo at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 LAST WEEK — Chargers beat Cardinals 41-10; Raiders lost to Texans 31-24 CHARGERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (1), RUSH (10), PASS (3) (7), PASS (4) PASS (20) CHARGERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (1), RUSH RAIDERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (9), RUSH (6), RAIDERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (11), RUSH (31), PASS (3) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Chargers have won 13 straight against Raiders, second longest current streak in NFL. New England has won 14 in a row against Buffalo. ... San Diego QB Philip Rivers is 8-0 in against Raiders. ... Rivers has thrown a TD pass in 17 straight games, the longest current streak in NFL. ... Chargers TE Antonio Gates has caught a TD pass in eight straight games, longest streak for a TE in NFL history. ... LB Shaun Phillips has 11 1/2 career sacks against Raiders, his most against any opponent. ... RB Mike Tolbert ran for career-high 100 yards last week, first 100-yard game for a San Diego back since Darren Sproles had 115 in final game in 2008. ... Raiders have lost seven straight home games against AFC West opponents. ... Zach Miller had 11 catches last week, most for a Raiders TE since Todd Christensen caught 11 in two games in 1986. ... Raiders scored TDs on all three red zone possessions last week after converting just 3 of 13 chances in first three games. ... Marcel Reece’s 13-yard TD catch last week was first score for a Raiders fullback since Justin Griffith caught a TD pass against Baltimore on Oct. 26, 2008. PHILADELPHIA(2-2) at SAN FRANCISCO (0-4) Sunday, 5:20 p.m., NBC OPENING LINE — 49ers by 3 RECORD VS. SPREAD — San Francisco 2-2, Philadelphia 1-3 SERIES RECORD — 49ers lead 17-11-1 LAST MEETING — Eagles 27, 49ers 13, Dec. 20, 2009 LAST WEEK — Eagles lost to Redskins 17-12; 49ers lost to Falcons 16-14 EAGLES OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH (11), PASS (11) EAGLES DEFENSE — OVERALL (12), RUSH (27), PASS (5) PASS (18) PASS (20) 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (23), RUSH (28), 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (21), RUSH (16), STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Teams are play- ing for third straight year after Eagles won last season 27- 13 in Philly. Eagles have won last four meetings, their longest winning streak in series. ... Niners make first Sun- day night appearance since losing to Arizona in Mexico City on Oct. 2, 2005. San Francisco has lost its last four Sunday night games. Niners are 8-4 at home on Sunday night. ... In last year’s meeting, Eagles’ DeSean Jackson caught six passes for 140 yards with a 19-yard TD recep- tion, while San Francisco’s Frank Gore ran for 107 yards. San Francisco QB Alex Smith threw three interceptions and was sacked three times as Niners were outgained 422- 261 yards. ... San Francisco 0-4 for first time since going 2-14 in 2004, having already lost twice on game-ending field goals. 49ers haven’t been 0-5 since losing first seven games of a 2-14 season in 1979 under then first-year coach Bill Walsh. ... Kevin Kolb is back behind center for Eagles, who had to replace injured quarterback Michael Vick. Kolb makes fourth NFL start. ... 49ers’ average of 13 points per game ranks second-to-last in NFL. ... San Fran- cisco’s offense is still trying to find its way. This will be the 49ers’ second game under new offensive coordinator Mike Johnson. Smith went 21 of 32 for 188 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions vs. Falcons. He was sacked once. Smith has a 66.1 quarterback rating so far. ... San Francisco lost TE Delanie Walker to left ankle injury last Sunday. He was on crutches and wearing walking boot this week. MLS Thursday’s result Los Angeles 1, Philadelphia 0 Today’s game Columbus at Chicago, 6 p.m. Saturday’s games San Jose at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at New York, 1 p.m. Colorado at FC Dallas, 3 p.m. Seattle FC at Kansas City, 5:30 p.m. Toronto FC at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Best-of-5 Thursday’s results San Francisco 1, Atlanta 0 San Francisco leads series 1-0 Texas 6, Tampa Bay 0 Texas leads series 2-0 New York 5, Minnesota 2 New York leads series 2-0 Today’s games NCAA Thursday’s Top 25 result No. 7 Nebraska 48, Kansas State 13 Today’s Top 25 game No.22 Okla.St.at La-Lafayette, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Today’s other televised game Connecticut at Rutgers, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Atlanta (Hanson 10-11) at San Fran.(Cain 13-11),6:37 p.m.,TBS Cincinnati (Arroyo 17-10) at Philadelphia (Oswalt 13-13), 3:07 p.m., TBS 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 MLB Divisional Playoffs