Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch offered a reminder to everyone after the American League Central lead dropped to 1½ games over the Guardians.
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch gathered his thoughts and offered a reminder to everyone after his team's American League Central lead dropped to 1½ games over the Cleveland Guardians — down from 9½ games just 10 days ago.
"Guess who controls our own destiny?"
He paused.
"We do."
Of course, the same is true for the Guardians in the AL Central.
The Tigers were stunned in a 6-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Comerica Park, giving up three runs in the final two innings. Meanwhile, the Guardians won Game 1 of their doubleheader Saturday against the Minnesota Twins; a win in Game 2 would trim the Tigers' lead to just one game.
The collapsing Tigers (85-70) have seven games remaining, including three against the Guardians.
"Difficult to accept, difficult to explain," Hinch said after Saturday's loss. "It's hard trying to put into words what is going on, but I know how much we fought today."
The Tigers have an 87.5% chance to advance to the postseason, a 70.7% chance to win the AL Central and a 17.9% chance to clinch a bye to the ALDS as one of the top two AL division winners — all according to FanGraphs.
By Sunday morning, however, those odds could fall even further if the Guardians win Game 2 of their doubleheader.
"Losing sucks, but we were one pitch away from winning that game," said first baseman Spencer Torkelson, hitting .317 with three home runs and an .886 OPS through 17 games in September. "We're still in a fine position, so we can't let anything really affect us too much. We got to keep battling and showing up every day expecting to win and putting in our work like winners do."
The Tigers are in a full-blown freefall.
Eight losses in nine games. Seven wins in 24 games.
"We're a good baseball team," catcher Dillon Dingler said. "We're obviously not playing as well as we could. We need to look forward to tomorrow, look forward to the next series — just make sure we're doing everything possible to come out with wins."
In Saturday's 6-5 loss, the Tigers were one strike away from ending their losing ways.
Nacho Alvarez Jr. — who went 3-for-4 with two home runs — spoiled the Tigers' chances by slapping reliever Will Vest's up-and-away fastball for an RBI single with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning.
The clutch hit tied the game, 5-5.
After that, Jurickson Profar put the Braves ahead, 6-5, when he ripped Vest's two-strike slider that hung around the bottom of the strike zone for an RBI single.
"It sucks," Vest said.
Before Vest's implosion, the Tigers received hope in the form of a big swing from Torkelson in a key moment. He gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning, blasting a clutch two-run home run off reliever Pierce Johnson.
He watched the ball fly.
He dropped his bat at home plate.
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He turned to his teammates in the dugout, flexing and shouting in celebration.
"Our guys are all-in," Hinch said. "This is absolutely grinding at these guys. It's not a care factor. It's not a concern on the work or the conversations or the mood or the vibe. It's a concern about the results, and our guys know it."
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Both the Tigers and Guardians control their own destiny in the AL Central because of the three games remaining in the head-to-head matchup, scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday at Progressive Field. The Guardians have a 6-4 record in the 13-game season series, which is the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.
As the losses pile up, Hinch won't call for a team meeting to address the situation.
That's because the team meets every day.
"We are around each other close to 15 hours a day," Hinch said. "It's just more about continuing to grind and fight and play. I'm out of words today because I'm tired of talking about it, and I think we should stop talking and really just get to the baseball. That's what is going to ultimately get us in a better spot."
The way the Tigers are playing has shifted over the past week — and not just in the win-loss column. On Saturday, Hinch managed the pitching staff like it was Game 7 of the World Series.
He pulled starter Keider Montero after just three innings and 69 pitches, trailing 3-2.
Six relievers covered the final six innings.
The plan worked — until Kyle Finnegan and Vest gave up three runs across the eighth and ninth innings, erasing what should have been a season-saving victory.
"Every game feels like a playoff game right now," Hinch said. "We're trying to do our best to get to the finish line. That's what's so frustrating about today: We could see the finish line. We just couldn't get there."
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' A.J. Hinch, Spencer Torkelson on AL Central collapse
Category: Baseball
