A very good Tigers team exposed the Yankees biggest weakness - lack of production from the middle of the batting order. A-Rod, Teixeira and Swisher all had regrettable series. A-Rod hit .111 and seemed to strike out every time he had a runner in scoring position. He had a total of 3 RBI's (and I think two were routine ground balls where the fielder gave up the run to get the out). Teixeira looked like a deer in the headlights with runners on base and hit an abysmal .167, with a grand total of one RBI. Swisher hit .211 with one RBI (on his solo home run). And let's not forget Russell Martin who hit .176 with NO RBI's. You simply can't beat a team as good as the Tigers with that kind of production. Let's face it Yankees fans, the team is getting old and the long term contracts the players are holding will keep the Yankees from upgrading much. The morning's paper said that four members of the team hold guaranteed contracts for nearly $200 million - Sabathia, Rodriguez, Teixeira and Burnett. Other than Sabathia, this Yankee fan wouldn't mind seeing the other three gone. But no team would ever take on their overpriced long term contracts. But, at least Boston is in worse shape than we are. Next year is going to be very interesting. Congrats to the Tigers, you deserve to move on in the playoffs.
|