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The Detroit Tigers were starting to look better after a dreadful 1-12 stretch, but a series loss at home against the Minnesota Twins was a big step in the wrong direction. At one point in July, the Tigers had the best record in baseball by three games, and they were 15 games up on the next closest team in the AL Central. It's hard to believe how quickly things can change in baseball. After sweeping the New York Mets, the Cleveland Guardians are now just six games back of the Tigers. AJ Hinch and his team have a lot of work to do.
Detroit was the best team in baseball for a long time, but this is a very long season. In the past month, the Tigers haven't been close to the best. They have looked pretty bad to be quite frank. The bullpen is a mess, and Detroit didn't take it seriously at the deadline. The issue has been evident since.
After winning the first game of the series, dropping this one at home to the Twins stings. Minnesota isn't great, and the Tigers need to take advantage of series like that right now.
“I mean, we didn’t do enough to win the game and win the series,” AJ Hinch said, according to an article from MLB.com. “Obviously they did, so it kind of depends on your perspective. But we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got a lot of things to address. Right now we’re taking it on the chin in games. At least in the last week, we’ve been riding this roller coaster of good and bad over the course of a few series. This one’s frustrating because it’s a series that we feel like we can win if we perform. And when you don’t at this level, you’re reminded why it’s the toughest level.”
That's two series in a row that the Tigers should've won, but they lost them both. Detroit lost two of three against the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, and that was after blowing a 3-0 lead late in Game 1 to start the series with a loss. Because of blunders like that, the Tigers are going to be in a tight division race down the stretch.
“We better worry about ourselves,” Hinch said. “I think that’s something that this group is pretty good at. I mean, we haven’t once talked about anything external. I don’t care if you have a one-game lead or a 20-game lead. If we don’t play good baseball, I’m going to sit up here and tell you we’ve got to play better. I’ve been very, very consistent that you’ve got to play your 162 [games]. We haven’t done it yet. We’re going to, and we’re going to get tested.”
The Tigers will return to action on Friday at home against the Los Angeles Angels. Again, this is a series that Detroit needs to take advantage of.
