Major League Baseball

Tigers' Young to miss ALCS

Published Oct. 8, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Delmon Young's bat will be silent during the AL championship series.

If the Detroit Tigers can get to the World Series without him, they might get back the slugger who hit three homers in the AL division series.

Young is out of the AL championship series against the Texas Rangers because of an oblique injury. He reaggravated an earlier ailment against the New York Yankees and the Tigers left him off their roster for the best-of-seven series that began Saturday night.

Manager Jim Leyland said that even though an MRI ''doesn't show anything real significant,'' the Tigers were taking no chances with Young.

''I learned a long time ago when the word oblique is mentioned, I get nervous. ... I've never seen an oblique all right in a day or two. It's never happened as long as I've been managing,'' Leyland said.

''We might have kept him on hoping for maybe Game 4 or 5 or something. But what happens is all of a sudden you used him and he couldn't go and you had to take him off, then he's not available for the next series,'' he said. ''This way, not having him on the roster at the beginning of this series, if he would be ready and if we were fortunate to move on, he could be activated for the World Series.''

Leyland said Young stiffened up after swinging during batting practice Friday.

Infielder Danny Worth took Young's spot on the roster while Ryan Raburn started in left field. Leyland also shuffled his batting order without his regular No. 3 hitter.

Young's injury was described as a mild strain when he left Game 5 of the AL division series against the Yankees on Thursday night.

The injury for Young is on the left side of his abdomen. He missed 19 games with the same injury earlier this season while with Minnesota.

''With Delmon out, it changes things,'' Leyland said. ''It obviously hurts a little bit, because he's a right-handed hitter and we're going to see three left-handed pitchers plus they have good left-handed stuff in the bullpen.''

Young hit .274 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 40 games for Detroit after being acquired from Minnesota in August. Over five games against the Yankees, the Tigers' regular No. 3 hitter was 6 for 19. He was the first player in franchise history with three homers in a single postseason series.

Though Young didn't think the problem was too serious when it flared up while taking a swing Thursday night, he realized when he went out to the outfield to warm up for the next inning that he couldn't throw.

Raburn was set to bat second for Game 1 against the Rangers, with first baseman Miguel Cabrera moving up to the No. 3 spot in the order. Cabrera, the AL batting champion, was third for only the second time this year, and Victor Martinez moved up from fourth to fifth.

Cabrera hit fourth in 158 regular-season games, and was in that spot for all five ALDS games against the Yankees. Raburn was one of 11 different players to hit second during the regular season, and is the fourth in six postseason games.

''This changes our whole lineup. I think this gives us more protection,'' Leyland said. ''It's not something if Delmon Young was here (Cabrera) he would be hitting third. ... I got Raburn hitting second. That's not the greatest scenario in the world, but it's a scenario that I like, particularly in this ballpark. Ball carries here pretty good. You get a guy with power up there in that two hole like Raburn, and it makes a little sense. It's not a move I would have made, but you have to make adjustments.''

Raburn, who also replaced Young in left field on Thursday night, was 2 for 5 in the AL division series after hitting .256 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 121 games during the regular season.

Worth hit .270 in 30 games during the regular season and didn't play in the ALDS against the Yankees.

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