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A.J. Hinch Gets Brutally Honest About Latest Tigers’ Struggles

Originally posted on Detroit Tigers on SI
By Scott Roche | Last updated Oct 2, 2025 11:47 AM ET

The Detroit Tigers are facing a deciding Game 3 on Thursday afternoon against the Cleveland Guardians in their best-of-three American League Wild Card Series. After winning Game 1, 2-1, the Tigers dropped Game 2, 6-1, in a frustrating fashion.

There have been plenty of issues over the final month of the regular season that cost Detroit the American League Central Division title, but what happened on Wednesday afternoon fit right into what has gone wrong for the Tigers.

Detroit left a staggering 15 runners on base and were 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position in Game 2, with Javier Báez collecting the only hit in the fourth inning.

Somehow, despite the struggles at the plate, they were tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the eighth inning before the Guardians scored five runs for the win. After the game, A.J. Hinch was blunt about the chances his team squandered.

A.J. Hinch is Blunt About Tigers' Offensive Struggles in Game 2

Through the first two games, the Tigers have two hits in 23 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and the only reason they are playing a winner-take-all Game 3 is because of the performance Tarik Skubal gave them in Game 1 on the mound.

Wednesday was tough to watch as Detroit missed multiple opportunities to win the series. Hinch was blunt after the game on his team's struggles.

"(Cleveland) made the most of their opportunities, and we left 15 guys on base,” said Hinch. “That paints the picture that it was (Wednesday). It was a hard-fought game, and the score doesn’t really indicate how the game was, but we kept giving ourselves a chance. It's not easy, they've got good pitching.”

It's not like the Guardians were taking advantage of their chances, but in a game as tight as Game 2 was, a hit here or a hit there from the Tigers, and the last couple of innings are being managed differently by both Hinch and Cleveland's Stephen Vogt.

The Guardians will send Slade Cecconi to the mound in Game 3 against Jack Flaherty. If Detroit is going to advance to play the Seattle Mariners in the American League Division Series beginning this weekend, they are going to have to improve at taking advantage of runners in scoring position.

MLB playoff games are mostly decided on clutch hitting and taking advantage of the opportunities given to you by the opponent.

The Tigers failed to capitalize on that in Game 2, and the only way to avoid a long winter and offseason is to take advantage of the chances they get in Game 3 with runners in scoring position. If they do, the memories of the first two games will be forgotten.

This article first appeared on Detroit Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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