2010 MLB Playoffs: Colby Lewis Looks To Lead Rangers To ALDS Sweep

(Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers attempt to nail down their first postseason series win in franchise history with a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, as the American League Division Series shifts to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington this evening.

Texas, in the playoffs for the first time since 1999, is the only current major league franchise that's never won a playoff series. The Rangers had lost nine straight postseason games, and were 1-10 overall, before Cliff Lee held the Rays to five hits over seven innings of Wednesday's Game 1 win.

C.J. Wilson then spun 6 1/3 scoreless innings while Michael Young and Ian Kinsler hit home runs to lead Texas to a 6-0 win in Game 2 on Thursday.

"He really showed maturity out there today," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Wilson afterward. "He stayed within himself, he used all his pitches. He went around the strike zone with it. He never really got shaken. He bent a little bit, but he didn't break, and that's exactly what we needed. We needed him to go out there and give us a good outing, and he did."

Darren Oliver tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings to complete the Rangers' first- ever postseason shutout.

The left-handed starting tandem of Wilson and Lee has held the offensively- challenged Rays to a lone run on seven hits and two walks while fanning 17 -- 11 of which have been called third strikes -- in the first two contests.

James Shields (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on four hits and two critical hit batters with a pair of strikeouts for the Rays, who hope to become the first team since the 2001 New York Yankees to rally for a series win after losing the first two games at home in the ALDS.

Of the 19 teams to fall behind 2-0 in ALDS history, four have come back to prevail.

"Again, they've pitched really well against us," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought [Wednesday] we actually swung the bats a lot better, hit a lot of balls more on the nose for outs. [Thursday] it wasn't the case. We did not really drive the ball at all. We had a couple minor chances, but we just have to do better than that."

The Rays, whose .247 batting average this year was the lowest for an AL club that made the postseason since the 1981 Oakland Athletics, are 1-for-13 with nine strikeouts with runners in scoring position in this series.

Hoping to finish the Rays off tonight will be right-hander Colby Lewis. In his first year back in the big leagues after spending the last two seasons in Japan, Lewis went 12-13 with a 3.72 ERA, but won three of his last four decisions.

Lewis is 2-0 in three games (two starts) against the Rays, but has pitched to a 7.71 ERA in those outings.

With its season on the line, Tampa will hand the ball to right-hander Matt Garza, who was a horse for the Rays during their run to the 2008 AL pennant. Garza, though, has struggled of late and ended the year with losses in three of his last four decisions to finish the season at 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA.

Garza's season, of course, was highlighted by a no-hitter over the Detroit Tigers on July 26.

Tampa won four of its six regular-season meetings with the Rangers but both of those losses came in Arlington, where it has won just twice in its last nine visits.