Rangers have Yanks on the brink after 10-3 rout

NEW YORK—Big home runs. Shutdown relief pitching. Blowout wins.The AL Championship Series has turned into the one-sided affair many expected — except that it’s the Texas Rangers who are one victory from the World Series, not the New York Yankees.Bengie Molina hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off A.J. Burnett in the sixth inning, Josh Hamilton added a pair of solo drives to give him four in four games and the Rangers battered the Yankees 10-3 on Tuesday night for a 3-1 ALCS lead.On a night of contested home runs, a hamstring injury that finished Mark Teixeira for the postseason and another rash of late walks by Rangers relievers, the AL West champions brought a little bit of the Wild West with them.A victory Wednesday in Game 5 will put them into baseball’s showcase for the first time — in the 50th season of a franchise that started play as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.Fans started streaming out of Yankee Stadium in the late innings, while Rangers president and part-owner Nolan Ryan smiled in his seat.Derek Holland got the win with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless one-hit relief.The big ballpark was as quiet as a minor-league field for the second successive ninth inning. Texas is 5-0 on the road in the playoffs, and the Yankees are on the verge of losing three consecutive postseason home games in a single series for the first time since 1942.Game 5 will have a rematch of starters from the opener, with the Yankees’ CC Sabathia pitching against C.J. Wilson. Since the LCS went to a best-of-7 format, 24 of the 30 previous teams to take 3-1 series leads have won pennants.Nelson Cruz hit the last of Texas’ four home runs, a two-run drive in the ninth that gave the Rangers seven home runs in the series and 15 in the postseason. Hamilton’s home runs in the seventh against Boone Logan and the ninth off Sergio Mitre made him 5 for 15 in the series and gave him seven RBI. Angry Yankees fans booed over and over.Aiming for a Series matchup against San Francisco or Philadelphia, Texas has outscored the Yankees 30-11, outhit them 43-26 and would have swept if not for wasting a five-run lead in the opener, when the Yankees turned late walks into runs.While Texas is hitting .307, New York is limping at .198, including .154 (6 for 39) with runners in scoring position. Alex Rodriguez has been a bust against his former team, going 2 for 15 (.133) with two RBI.Molina’s two-out home run came after an intentional walk to David Murphy and put Texas ahead 5-3. Molina circled the bases and pounded a fist against his chest — and left Burnett clasping hands behind his head.Robinson Cano hit a second-inning home run off the top of the right-field wall — his third of the series — that left Cruz screaming and pointing after a fan touched his glove as he tried to make a leaping catch.Two batters later, Lance Berkman hit a high drive down the right-field line that was clearly foul but initially was ruled fair by Reynolds. After a video review — only the third in postseason play since the process began two years ago — umpires reversed the call and ruled it foul. The Yankees didn’t even argue.Holland, Darren O’Day and Clay Rapada walked the bases loaded in the eighth with Texas leading 7-3. After Darren Oliver’s 0-1 pitch appeared to glance off Nick Swisher’s back foot — there wasn’t a call — Swisher flied to short center on the next pitch, dropping to 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position in the playoffs. Berkman followed with an inning-ending forceout, and Oliver finished for a save.Burnett, who took the loss, was one out from making it through six innings, more than the Yankees could have expected.The $82.5 million man had lost seven of his last eight regular-season decisions, was dropped from the rotation in the first round and hadn’t pitched since Oct. 2. Since 1952, pitchers starting postseason games with 16 or more days’ rest are now 0-11 with a 7.43 ERA in 15 starts, and Burnett joined a list of losers that includes Roger Clemens, Catfish Hunter and Kerry Wood.And now the Rangers are on the verge of knocking out the Yankees.

NOTES—Michael Jordan was at the game…..Derek Jeter scored his LCS-record 32nd run and set a postseason mark with his 30th double…..The barrel of Brett Gardner’s broken bat flew through the air and shattered a TBS camera.