Yankees End Regular Season With Loss, Will Face Indians in Wild Card Series

 MARLINS 5 - YANKEES 0 

After waking up in the middle innings on Saturday, the Yankees offense spent Sunday afternoon in complete slumber as the Marlins topped the Bombers 5-0 to end the 60-game regular season.  

Clark Schmidt got the start for New York, allowing three runs over four innings, and D.J. LeMahieu pretty much stamped his claim to the AL Batting title with a pair of hits as the Yankees limp into the postseason having lost six of their last eight games.

Even with the loss the Yankees caught a break as the Blue Jays, Astros and White Sox all lost, meaning New York will maintain its position as the number five seed in the American League playoffs. The Yankees will face the Indians on Tuesday in the first of a best of three series.

 The Yankees are heading into the postseason, not exactly on a head of steam. Not only has New York lost six of their last eight, but they enter the postseason as one of the most confounding teams in baseball. When they are good, and when they are hitting home runs, the Yankees are very tough the beat.

 However this has been a team mired in poor hitting, they don't hit well for average, and the pitching has been suspect. 

Case in point the Yankees went 5-15 from August 18 to September 8 before rattling off 10 straight wins to get themselves into serious postseason contention. 

While LeMahieu and Luke Voit, who led the league in homers, were fantastic, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge were not. Sanchez hit .147 for the year, and his defense behind the plate has come under intense scrutiny. 

Stanton, after missing most of the season due to injury, ended the year mired in a 2-for-23 slump. 

Judge hit only .259 in an injury riddled campaign. 

Of course how well the Yankees pitch with carry them in the playoffs. Gerrit Cole has been great, but Mashairo Tanaka, JA Happ and the rest of the rotation has been shaky. Even the once vaunted Yankees bullpen has shown cracks this year. 

Yet this is a team with so much immense talent, that it wouldn't surprise if they found a way to the ALCS. We shall see. It all begins Tuesday in Cleveland against an Indians team that boasts one of baseball's best pitching staffs.