Phil Hughes rocked as Yankees go out with a whimper in ALCS Game 6 loss to Texas Rangers BY Mark Feinsand DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER ARLINGTON, Tex. - Joe Girardi won't have to change his uniform number next season. The Yankees' chase for a 28th World Series championship came to a crashing halt Friday night, as the Rangers sent them home for the winter with a 6-1 loss in Game 6 to wrap up the American League Championship Series, giving Texas its first pennant in franchise history. Phil Hughes was charged with four runs in 4 2/3 innings, three of them coming in the Rangers' four-run fifth inning that blew the game open. Vladimir Guerrero made the Yankees pay for their decision to intentionally walk ALCS MVP Josh Hamilton, delivering a two-run double that snapped a 1-1 tie. Nelson Cruz followed with a two-run homer against Dave Robertson, putting the Yankees' hopes for a successful title defense on life support. Colby Lewis did the rest, coming up with the game of his life. The righthander limited the Yankees to one run on three hits over eight innings, earning his second victory of the series. Lewis' gem also allowed the Rangers to kep from using Cliff Lee in Game 7, leaving him available for Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday in either Philadelphia or San Francisco. For the Yankees, the end of their season now brings up a number of questions for what should be a busy offseason for Brian Cashman. What will become of aging free agents Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera? Girardi is also a free agent, though without the Cubs job open to dangle over the Yankees' heads, his return is likely. Will the Yankees go out and hand a blank check to Cliff Lee, who turned the series in Texas' favor with his dominating Game 3 performance? One thing is clear. They'll be trying to wrest the World Series trophy back from a new champion when they gather next February in Tampa. The Rangers struck quickly against Hughes, as Elvis Andrus opened the first with a double to center. Hamilton singled with one out to put runners on the corners, then Guerrero gave Texas the lead with a weak ground ball to second, good enough to score Andrus. For a while, it looked like that run would be enough, as Lewis did his best Lee impression. Lewis didn't allow a hit through the first four innings, the only baserunners coming on a pair of walks to Curtis Granderson in the first and fourth. Even when Granderson reached, he never found his way to second base, as he was caught stealing in the first and erased on an inning-ending double play by Robinson Cano in the fourth, a hard-hit ball that Ian Kinsler made a great play on, starting up the 4-6-3. Hughes settled down after the first, retiring the side in order in the second. He issued a leadoff walk to Mitch Moreland in the third, then with two outs, intentionally walked Hamilton. Hughes got Guerrero to pop out to Cano to end the threat, but that strategy came back to haunt the Yankees two innings later. The Yankees tied the game in the fifth, getting some help from the umpires with a gift call. Alex Rodriguez broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff double, moving to third on Lance Berkman's fly out to center. With Nick Swisher at the plate, Lewis' next pitch bounced and hit Swisher in the leg, rolling away from the batter's box. A-Rod rushed in from third base, scoring on the play as home-plate umpire Brian Gorman called it a wild pitch instead of a hit batter. Bengie Molina argued with Gorman, then manager Ron Washington came out of the dugout to protest the call. After the umpires huddled, it was ruled a wild pitch, allowing A-Rod's run to count, tying the game at 1. By the time the Yankees came to bat again, that play was a mere footnote. Hughes returned for the bottom of the fifth, as Moreland opened the inning with an infield single to second after Hughes broke late to cover first base. Hughes retired the next two batters, but with Moreland at third base and two out, Girardi opted to intentionally walk Hamilton for the second time. Guerrero made the Yankees pay for that decision, unleashing a double into the gap in left-center, scoring both Moreland and Hamilton to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. With the Texas crowd going wild, Hughes walked off the field in disgust, visibly angered as he talked with pitching coach Dave Eiland in the dugout. Robertson got ahead of Cruz, 1-2, but he couldn't put him away. Cruz fouled off two curveballs - all five pitches he saw to start the at-bat were curves - before Robertson tried to finish him off with a fastball. Cruz launched the 91 mph heater into the left-field seats for a 5-1 lead, setting off fireworks and starting Texas' countdown to its first World Series. Lewis made the runs stand up without a problem, giving up only one hit - a two-out triple by Berkman in the seventh - over the next three frames before Neftali Feliz sent the Rangers to the World Series with a scoreless ninth.
