Texas takes 2-1 lead

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Once again, the Texas Rangers look perfectly comfortable under the roof at Tropicana Field.

Colby Lewis outpitched All-Star David Price, Mike Napoli hit a go-ahead homer and the defending AL champions survived a shaky effort from the bullpen to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Monday in Game 3 of their best-of-five playoff.

The Rangers’ fourth straight division series road win matched the third-longest streak in major league history and gave them a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4.Texas won three ALDS games at Tampa Bay a year ago, when it eliminated the Rays in five games.

The Rangers will send left-hander Matt Harrison to the mound Tuesday against rookie Jeremy Hellickson.

“We don’t take these guys lightly because they’ve got momentum, they’ve got a lot of heart,” Rangers CEO and president Nolan Ryan said. “That concerns you a lot, and so we know we’ve got our hands full with them.”

Playing in front of the first sellout at home since opening day and hoping to recapture the magic of clinching the AL wild card in the regular-season fianle, Tampa Bay got a pair of solo home runs from rookie Desmond Jennings.

The Rays kept it interesting by scoring twice off Rangers relievers before Neftali Feliz got four outs for his second save of the series.

“It was three of the toughest innings that we experienced all year. ... I am just so happy we were able to get the 27th out,” Washington said of the late-game drama.

Tigers 5, Yankees 4

DETROIT — Justin Verlander struck out 11 in eight gritty innings and Jose Valverde stopped a Yankees rally for the second straight night, whiffing Derek Jeter with two on to close out the Detroit Tigers’ 5-4 victory over New York.

Delmon Young hit a tiebreaking homer in seventh off Rafael Soriano and the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five American League playoff, pushing the Yankees to the brink of elimination.

Verlander and Yankees ace CC Sabathia were back on the mound after their Game 1 matchup was halted early by bad weather on Friday night in New York.

While Sabathia didn’t make it through the sixth Monday, Verlander was still hitting 100 mph on the stadium radar gun in the eighth.

Tags: sports, mlb, playoffs