Tigers Defeat Yankees to Win ALDS

The Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees and won game 5 of the ALDS by a score of 3-2. The Tigers will next face the Texas Rangers in the ALCS beginning Saturday.

What went wrong for the Yankees in this game and series? What changes should be made for 2012?

Well believe it or not the Yankees were able to piece together the pitching and held the Tigers to 3 runs over the 9 innings. The pitching was the biggest question mark in this series, but yet in the end, it was the offense that did the Bronx Bombers in. In the two games they won, they were able to blow away the Tigers, in the rest, they fell one run short in every game and could not get the clutch hit to break through. For the series, Alex Rodriguez, who struck out for the final out of the Yankees' season, finished the ALDS batting .111. Mark Teixeira batted .167, Nick Swisher batted .211, and Russell Martin batted .176.

The Yankees simply relied on their starters in the lineup and in the end they could not come through. The team left Andruw Jones and Jesus Montero on the bench. Jones has provided a pop for the lineup coming off of the bench during the season and Jesus Montero was 2-2 in the series. Perhaps one of those two, if not both, could have been an option. But in the end Yankees manager Joe Girardi stuck with his prime lineup and in the end, it just didn't work out.

A very ironic ending to the 2011 season as all of the questions this season was about the Yankees' pitching and not their hitting. The Yankees were able to get by using Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon throughout the season and preserving their highly talented prospects. Even at the trade deadline, Brian Cashman, the Yankees' GM, made absolutely no moves to bolster the pitching nor made any moves for an additional bat, and perhaps that was the difference.

It'll be an interesting off-season for the Yankees as they will focus on securing CC Sabathia in case if he opts out of his contract. Then they will address their starters in the field and go from there. Certainly plenty of questions and thoughts Yankee fans will have. But I'm sure few thought in the end, it would be their offense that would do them in.