Tigers' A.J. Hinch gives candid response amid dwindling AL Central lead

The Detroit Tigers are in the middle of a rough stretch of games. While it's not the losing streak they were on near the end of July, the Tigers have struggled a lot lately, and their lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central has dwindled.

Sitting just six games up after the Guardians swept the New York Mets and the Tigers' series losses to the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, the Tigers are in a much more precarious spot than they were earlier in the year.

In a piece from Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch spoke on the team's struggles lately, and gave a candid response when asked about the dwindling lead in the AL Central.

"We better worry about ourselves," Hinch said. "I don't care if you have a one-game lead or a 20-game lead, if you don't play good baseball, I'm going to sit up here and tell you we got to be better."

This comment from Hinch followed the Tigers' series loss to the Twins, a team that is rebuilding after trading away more than two-thirds of its MLB roster at the trade deadline.

MORE: Tigers lost out to Mets on trade for Cardinals' Ryan Helsley

Detroit was sitting atop the baseball world for a period of time, but its struggles since the start of July have led the team to severely disappoint.

While they still have a decent lead over the Guardians and are second in the American League overall, the Tigers' recent struggles are cause for concern.

The offense isn't playing great, and the pitching staff hasn't been at its best either. Their deadline pickups have been solid, but none have been the difference-maker that the Tigers could've used amid their rough stretch.

Instead of being concerned about the Guardians closing the gap, Hinch is more worried about how his team is playing. "We haven't talked about anything external," Hinch said.

Even with the struggles lately, the Tigers are still one of the top teams in the American League and one of the top contenders overall. The Tigers need to turn things around, but Hinch has the team focused internally, and not on the Guardians, who're closing the gap.

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