The 2010 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a best-of-seven-game semifinal series in Major League Baseball's 2010 postseason pitting the winners of the 2010 American League Division Series for the American League Championship. The American League wild card-winning New York Yankees - the defending World Series champion, faced the American League West Division champions and third-seeded Texas Rangers. This was the fourth postseason meeting between Rangers and Yankees, This was the fourth matchup between the two teams in the past five seasons, and the Rangers got a measure of revenge as they defeated the Yankees in six games. They then faced the National League champion San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series, the franchise's first ever appearance in the World Series, but would go on to lose to the Giants in five games. The series, the 41st in league history, began October 15 and ended on October 22. The Rangers had home field advantage in the series, as the wild-card team defers home field advantage in the LDS and LCS regardless of regular-season record.
The Rangers and Yankees had met in the postseason in each of the Rangers' three previous postseason appearances; the Yankees had won all previous meetings, 3–1 in the 1996 ALDS, and 3–0 in the 1998 and 1999 ALDS.