If and when the Texas Rangers finish off the New York Yankees and reach the World Series for the first time, much of the credit will be given to Cliff Lee for his Game 3 masterpiece (and potentially Game 7 clincher) and Josh Hamilton for his power display (four home runs in the first five games of the series).
Much of the reason the Rangers have found success, however, lies in their running game. They have been extremely aggressive on the bases, testing Yankees batteries that struggle to cut down runners and taking an extra 90 feet whenever the opportunity presents itself.
This sort of scene is all too familiar for baseball fans in New England. No team suffered at the hands of the Texas running attack in 2010 more than the Red Sox, who were victimized repeatedly on the base paths in the 10 meetings between the two teams.
In going 6-4 against Boston, the Rangers stole 22 bases (more than they had against any other opponent) in 27 attempts, including a franchise record nine in the very first meeting back on April 20. That was the game that Darnell McDonald tied with a home run in his first at-bat with the Red Sox and then won with a walk-off single, a dramatic series of events that made Boston's futility early on an afterthought.
Those who remembered would lament the fact that the nine thefts came in the game's first 4 1/3 innings and included two of Vladimir Guerrero's four steals all season.
On July 18 at Fenway Park, facing Jon Lester, the Rangers had runners at first and third base in the fifth inning. Elvis Andrus, the speedster at first, broke for second against Lester and catcher Dusty Brown, who threw down to second while Julio Borbon broke from third and scored easily, one of two steals of home against the Sox this year. It was the decisive run in a 4-2 Rangers win.
The Yankees know this maneuver well. Texas pulled a double steal in the first inning of Game 2, this time with Andrus scoring and Hamilton taking second. The Rangers had three steals in that inning alone.
It makes sense. The Red Sox' 20 percent success rate against would-be base stealers was better than only one team in the American League, the Yankees, who managed to catch only 15 percent and survived a catching corps that led the major leagues with 21 errors.
Texas has nine steals in 10 attempts in the ALCS against New York while taking an extra base on several occasions. The chances are that Lee or Hamilton will have some say in the Rangers' ability to finish things off but so, too, will the running game, which really got going that April night at Fenway Park.
