The Tigers scored five runs Wednesday afternoon before two-time All-Star Framber Valdez recorded an out. They plated six in the first before many of the fans had taken their seats. They put the proper punctuation mark on a sweep of the Astros with a 7-2 win.
Those two runs were all the Astros managed in three games in Detroit. The Tigers are 16-7 since their 1-12 slide last month, a strong statement that their worst stretch of baseball is behind them -- and that their best, perhaps, is yet to come.
Asked what he'd say to the fans who were panicking just a few weeks ago and wondering if the Tigers were for real, Hinch said, "I think we should just thank them for being passionate enough to care."
"We’re still going to run the race, we still have a lot of games left, we’re still going to play our game, but I love the emotions that come with sports and respect them for loving us," said Hinch. "I don’t fault people for caring or being super passionate. That’s the kind of city that we want (to play in). But don’t forget to love on us a little bit when things are bad."
The Tigers played in front of strong crowds this week against a fellow first-place club and potential playoff foe. The attendance was almost 30,000 for Wednesday's matinee. As Hinch noted, "Day game today, mid week, Monday, Tuesday (night games), school's about to be back in session and Comerica was a legit home-field advantage place to play."
"And this teams responds to that," he said, "so it’s nice to see."
After the Tigers' lead in the AL Central shrunk to 5.5 games earlier this month, it's back up to 9.5 on the Royals, 10.5 on the Guardians. While that's quelled some of the concern in the fan base, "it didn’t take this stretch for me to have belief in this team or for our team to have a belief in itself," said Hinch.
"You gotta play the schedule. I don't know how many times a row I have to say it, but that’s what I believe. And my experience will tell you, it’s only going to get more exciting, it’s only going to get more intense," he said. "It doesn’t matter what the lead is. We keep stacking wins and playing good baseball, we’re gong to be a problem."