Rangers’ aggressive style leads to 5-1 victory over Rays

Cliff Lee always keeps hitters off balance. He throws hard, he throws soft. He throws in, he throws out.

Nothing new about that.

But what about a team that takes the same approach on the bases? Two-legged changeups? That’s a novel approach.

In the biggest game in the 50-year history of their franchise, the Texas Rangers combined Lee’s brilliance with the unexpected, aggressive baserunning you might see at a youth league game.

Hey, look at that, the wide-load truck of a catcher is trying to steal a base. The fast shortstop is trying to score from second base on a grounder to the first baseman. The big slugger caught the pitcher napping and is taking third base. And, isn’t that the guy who is too old for the league trying to score from second base on a double-play attempt? What’s he thinking?

The decisions and the aggressiveness of Elvis Andrus and Vladimir Guerrero helped the Rangers defeat Tampa Bay in the deciding game of an American League division series, 5-1, and now all 30 major league teams have won at least one playoff series.

The Rangers will take on the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series starting Friday.

Andrus, 22, and Guerrero, 35, stole two of the Rangers’ first three runs against David Price, who wound up flat-footed with the ball in his hand at first base as they scored. A bad throw by catcher Kelly Shoppach allowed Nelson Cruz to trot home after he stole third base.

Cruz is 6 feet 2 and 240 pounds, but stole 17 bases in the regular season. But the real stunner came in the third inning. Catcher Bengie Molina, who is no speedster, got his first stolen base since 2006, in part because second baseman Sean Rodriguez was late covering the base, forcing Shoppach to hold the ball.

“We made too many mistakes today, too many spring-training mistakes,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “Things we covered on the very first day came back to beat us.”

Credit Ron Washington, Maddon’s counterpart, for realizing the value of aggressive running in a postseason that so far has been dominated by pitching.

Factor in an anticipated pitching duel between two of baseball’s best pitchers and Washington looks brilliant for encouraging his players to put pressure on Tampa Bay’s fielders.

“I think what happened tonight was you guys got a chance to see what the Texas Rangers do,” Washington said. “We didn’t steal a page from anyone. … That’s the type of game we play.”

The Rangers like to run and take chances. Even their slow players get a kick out of trying to make something happen, and after they have done that, they often put their hands on their heads with fingers spread, making a sign to simulate antlers.

Texas also employs “the Claw,” a sign that Washington or his players will flash to each other when a big hit is what’s needed. But perhaps the most important sign in the biggest game in franchise history was one that has been around forever — the out sign.

Lee was just as sharp as when he pitched Philadelphia to a 6-1 win in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. He threw 120 pitches, struck out 11 and did not walk anyone. His teams have won all seven of his postseason starts.

progers@tribune.com