Guardians fans are relishing in AJ Hinch criticism as Tigers spiral

The past 72 hours have been a thrill ride for the Cleveland Guardians. Not only have they beaten the Detroit Tigers in the first three games of their inter-division series, but they’ve done so in a way that twists the knife in even more for the Tigers and their fans.

After picking up a blowout win on Monday, the Guardians have recorded back-to-back one-run wins highlighted by last night’s come-from-behind win in extra innings. That win was highlighted by a confusing moment from Tigers manager AJ Hinch, who elected to play the infield back in the ninth to concede the tying run. 

While Hinch’s bullpen decisions paid off during the first eight innings, it was a confusing move that got him in hot water in the Motor City. 

“The hard part is, [the possibility of] going down 2-1 felt pretty defeating,” Hinch said last night, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck. “At the end of the day, we had another at-bat, and we're going to get two rounds of at-bats for their one. And so, we're not going to lose the game there, not the way this season has gone, not the way this week has gone.” 

Well, the bad news for him is that they ended up losing anyway thanks to an Angel Martínez triple and a José Ramírez double in extra innings. 

The Guardians’ division lead over the Tigers just keeps growing 

And that’s not the only way that Hinch seems to be failing the Tigers right now. Along with Detroit leading the league with 22 outs on the bases, Hinch has also had some confusing bullpen usage and seems content sticking with a lineup that has plenty of underperforming players. 

Now, not all of that falls on Hinch. Tarik Skubal, Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres are on the injured list, among others. It’s going to be tough for any manager to win consistently with a lineup missing so many key cogs. 

This was supposed to be the Tigers’ year after they bested the Guardians in last year’s American League Wild Card Series, but they’re going to enter play today tied with the Royals for the worst record in the division. 

Prior to the start of the series, Hinch said that he felt this week was a good chance for the Tigers to “stand up for themselves and continue to push against the Guardians”. 

It seemed like Wednesday’s game was going to be the kind of win that could help them push back thanks to Drew Anderson’s strong start that was backed by some great pitching from the bullpen. 

But it all changed with that ninth inning mistake, which shined even more light on the Tigers’ offensive struggles. Detroit has only scored 37 runs in their last 15 games. 

It’s clear the Guardians have found their groove. It’s clearer the Tigers haven’t.

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