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On This Day in 2010: Rangers Take Down Yankees in Game 4 of ALCS
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- On This Day in 2010: Rangers Take Down Yankees in Game 4 of ALCS
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Josh Hamilton turned in many great performances throughout his time with the Texas Rangers , but Game 4 of the 2010 American League Championship Series may have been one of the best.
It was on this day in 2010 that Hamilton belted a pair of home runs to lead the Rangers past the New York Yankees 10-3 in Game 4 of the ALCS in front of 49,977 fans at Yankee Stadium.
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With the win, the Rangers would take a commanding 3-1 series lead, which eventually led to their first pennant in franchise history as they clinched after winning Game 6 in Arlington just days later.
Early game scoring for Rangers
As for Game 4, it was actually the Yankees who got the scoring started as Tommy Hunter allowed a solo shot off the bat of Robinson Cano to lead off the second inning. Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz appealed to the umpires for a fan interference call on the blast that just made it over the right-field wall, but his plea fell on deaf ears, and the home run stood.
Later in the second, future Ranger Lance Berkman appeared to hit a solo home run to make it 2-0 New York, but after Texas manager Ron Washington came out and the umpires went for a review, it was determined that the ball was foul.
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In the third, the Rangers would square the game at one as Elvis Andrus brought home a run with an RBI groundout. Later in the inning, Michael Young would leg out an infield single to give Texas a 2-1 lead.
With Texas trailing 3-2 , it was catcher Bengie Molina who provided the big swing of the night as he belted a massive three-run home run to put the Rangers up 5-3.
Hamilton's big night
In the seventh, Hamilton came through with his first home run of the night as he drove an absolute moonshot into the right-field seats.
After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, Hamilton blasted his second of the night in the ninth as he sent a towering fly ball into the Yankees bullpen to make it 8-3.
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Later in the frame, Nelson Cruz came through with a two-run shot of his own to officially put the game to rest at 10-3.
Texas was able to avoid using closer Neftalí Féliz as the rest of the bullpen provided 5.2 innings of shutout baseball to help guide the team to a huge win.
