The ol' double steal trickBut I contend that the true day-to-day MVP for this team in the first seven games of the post-season is Elvis Andrus, the 22-year-old Venezuelan who was in Double-A Frisco two years ago.
These days, he's making the biggest and baddest ass plays of the playoffs. The Rangers wouldn't do much without Cliff Lee. I could say the very same for Andrus.
I wrote Friday night that we would find out a ton about the Rangers Saturday afternoon in game 2 following that heartbreaking collapse. If this team was worth their weight in rosin bags, they'd show up Saturday and steal a game.
Quite literally, they did. And it was Andrus leading the way.
Colby Lewis tossed a perfect first inning. Andrus gets a single to lead off, goes to second on a wild pitch and takes third on a steal.
Josh Hamilton walks and then subsequently attempts to steal second. Andrus, 75 feet from home, watches Jorge Posada not even look down at third and blindly throw to second. As soon as the ball leaves Posada's hand, Andrus breaks for home. He's safe, by a country mile.
It was the first run, which is huge. But it showed the Yankees, the media, the nation and the 50,000 fans that the Rangers weren't scared and they weren't going to suddenly get conservative and abandon their identity.
Andrus has a hit in every playoff game:
11-31 -- .355 avg. -- 5 runs -- 5 stolen bases.
This doesn't even take into account the huge eight-pitch at-bat he drew from David Price in game 1 of the ALDS, the great at-bats since and the stellar defense.
Another huge move from the Rangers was going to Darren Oliver in the eighth inning. Oliver was the biggest culprit from choking that lead Friday night. Going to him Saturday not only did wonders for his confidence, but it sent a message to the entire squad: Play loose and don't let mistakes get to you. They happen. Let's get your head out your butt and play baseball tomorrow. It should be noted that Oliver wasn't good, again. He walked the lead-off guy and was the benefactor of two pretty nice plays in the infield to get out of the mess. Something to watch.
Finally, kind of an unspoken hero of these playoffs is Colby Lewis. He hasn't been stellar. He's thrown a lot of pitches and it makes you wonder just how much gas is left in the tank.
Still, he's taken the ball every time and pitched his best. He didn't allow a run against Tampa in that game 3 collapse and he allowed just two against the Yankees yesterday in the 7-2 win.
Lewis' playoff line:
10.2 IP - 8 hits - 2 runs - 8 BBs - 11 Ks.
It's not ideal, but it's good enough for wins. They've should've had two already.
It's sad, though. Going to New York for three. The Rangers should but up 2-0.
