Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees: ALDS Game 5 – MLB Post Game Analysis
The Detroit Tigers overcame a resilient opposition from New York Yankees to win 3-2 in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Thursday, October 6 at the Bronx and subsequently join the Texas Rangers in the next round of the playoffs.
Playing at Yankee Stadium with an attendance of 50,960, it was never easy for the Tigers to handle the offensive powerhouse. However, Doug Fister’s immaculate pitching coupled with an offensive failure of the Yankees ensured a repeat of 2006 ALDS.
Delmon Young and Don Kelly slammed back-to-back home-runs in the first inning to inflict pressure on the home-side. The duo homered on the sixth and seventh pitch of Ivan Nova to send the winner of Game 1 into shatters. This was the first time that the Tigers
have hit back-to-back homers in the post-season.
Young has impressed for Detroit since his acquisition from Minnesota Twins on August 15. In the post-season alone, Young has smashed three home-runs already. His performance against the Rangers will be vital to decide the fate of his team in the playoffs.
Nova was removed from the mound after the second inning citing stiffness in the right forearm. However, after the game, manager Joe Girardi stated that he did not like the way the ball was coming out of his hand. Clarifying his stance, Girardi said, "Some
of his fastballs were cutting, and we never saw that. So I had to make a change."
Before the Yankees could pose a response, Victor Martinez drove in a run for Austin Jackson to extend the lead to three runs. Although not extensive, the lead proved to be enough in the end for Detroit to edge past the Yankees.
Fister pitched four scoreless innings upfront to increase the gulf between both teams. Robinson Cano started an offensive backlash for the Yankees at the bottom of the fifth inning with a 398-feet home-run towards right-field, but other batters failed to
compliment his effort.
Manager Jim Leyland tactfully removed Fister after the fifth inning and replaced him with Max Scherzer, who kept the score in check. Scherzer allowed just one run in 1.1 innings to hold the game for Detroit before Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde safely
saw the visitors through.
Yankees had expected Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to fire in this game after having largely failed in the first four games. This, however, was not to be. A-Rod failed miserably in his four at-bats and Teixeira went 1-for-3 in the game to give rise to
talks of an offensive uplift in the roster for the next season.
Teixeira had performed exceptionally well in the regular season and thus cannot be utterly blamed for failing to perform. He had his say in helping the Yankees qualify for the playoffs and needed the other sluggers in the line-up to elevate their game.
Rodriguez was left out of numerous games in the regular season to avoid injury scare and keep him fit for his favoured post-season. Quoted by many as the ‘postseason specialist’, A-Rod failed for the sixth time in an eliminator. This performance might effectively
end his career with the Yankees and subsequently the era of his domination from the mound.
The Tigers will now play against Rangers in the ALCS starting Saturday, October 8.
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