American League Championship Series Preview Visit Blue Square Save For Later Posted by Bettingpro Staff 15 Oct 2010 Tweet Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees (credit: wikipedia) Related Articles See all MLB news Share it Pin It The American League Championship Series gets underway in Arlington on Friday as the reigning World Champion New York Yankees take on the Texas Rangers for the American League Pennant.Get a free bet with Blue Square on American League Championship Series BaseballFollowing their dominate win over the Minnesota Twins in the Divisional Series, the New York Yankees come to Arlington fully refreshed and ready to go. All their pitchers are fully rested and as usual Joe Girardi will begin the series with ace CC Sabathia on the mound. Sabathia was good but not great last time up against the Twins giving up three earned runs in six innings but he was good against the Rangers earlier this season and can certainly be counted on by New York.Youngster Phil Hughes will take the mound for Game Two on Saturday and will be hoping to repeat his performance from the Divisional Series. Hughes gave up four hits over seven scoreless innings but this will be his first start of the season against the Rangers so it will be interesting to see how he handles the park in Arlington. Game Three will be started by the ever reliable Andy Pettitte who seemed back on top form when he pitched in Minnesota.The biggest question in the Yankee rotation is AJ Burnett, who is slated to start Game Four. Burnett certainly has the ability to beat any team but he has had a difficult season although he was effective against the Rangers this season. Burnett started three games against Texas with a 1-0 record and en ERA of 2.50. If he can repeat that performance when the two teams meet in the Bronx then New York should be on the way to another World Series.As far as hitting goes the Yankees have a postseason best .314 batting average although that was in only three games one of which was a blow out. They are also extremely good in the field and didn’t commit a single error in the series against the Twins. New York is rightly fancied as favourites and can be backed at 4/7 to retain the American League Pennant.Now while New York should be favoured, the Texas Rangers should not be completely dismissed. Cliff Lee is one of the top five pitchers in baseball at the moment and his completely dominating performance against the Rays in Game One and Five of the Divisional Series will be something that the Yankees will fear. Lee also has two wins against the Yankees in last season’s World Series with one complete game and an ERA of 2.81.Lee is not the only Texas pitcher who has been on form this postseason; CJ Wilson was very good in his start against the Rays and he will take the mound against Sabathia in Game One. Wilson pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Tropicana Field although the Rays were extremely disappointing with the bat in hand. He should find tougher resistance when he faces the Yankess in Arlington.The Texas rotation is rounded out with Colby Lewis who pitched five scoreless against the Rays in Game Three in Arlington and Tommy Hunter who was not so good. The Hunter – Burnett matchup in New York for Game Four could be the deciding factor with a possible 3-1 lead coming out of that game. With CC following AJ on Game Five that is a situation the Yankees will be looking to arrive at.The Rangers hit .253 against the Rays in the Divisional Series and will be looking to improve on that against the Yankees and they will certainly need to improve their fielding. Texas committed five errors in the five games against Tampa Bay.Any team that has Cliff Lee has to be respected and while he may win his two games I’m not sure about the rest of the rotation. The Yankees appear to be locked in at the moment as they get big hits when needed and great pitching all-round. New York are available at 3/1 to win the series 4-2 or 5/1 for a 4-1 win. 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