HOUSTON — The Detroit Tigers boarded their flight to Houston on Sunday evening carrying more than their luggage.
They’ll take with them the momentum of an 8-2 homestand, a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, and the best record in the American League.
The Tigers (18-10) capped their homestand with a 7-0 win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, completing a three-game sweep and extending their torrid home start to 13-3 — their best since 1911. They are 15-4 against AL opponents.
The Tigers now open their longest road trip of the season: 10 games in three cities, starting Monday night with a three-game series against the Houston Astros (14-13).
It will be the Tigers’ first visit to Houston since they beat the Astros in a dramatic two-game sweep in the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series last October.
“It feels like a long time ago,” Hinch said. “Our team’s different, their team’s different. But it’s always fun to go back to a place where you have good memories and a good experience.
“A number of these guys remember celebrating there. But it doesn’t help you win the game. You’ve got to go play.”
The Tigers aren’t spending much time reminiscing. Hinch said the team’s strength this season, as last season, has been its ability to quickly reset and focus on the next series.
“We’re not going to carry too much into tomorrow,” Hinch said. “We’re going to get on a plane, play a brand-new team. We’ve got some history with them, but this is our identity as a team — to be able to turn the page and get to the next series. That’s the big picture.”
The Tigers have won with excellent pitching — a 2.80 team ERA — but also some surprising offensive contributions. Their two top hitters are a utility man (Zach McKinstry) and a player who had to fight until the final day of spring training to win a roster spot (Spencer Torkelson).
“I think we have a group of guys who really embrace being good teammates and doing whatever it takes to win that big game,” Hinch said. “Obviously, you’ve got to be successful for that to foster more belief and more buy-in, but we never had to sell anything. This has evolved over time because we try to maximize everybody’s strengths and use everybody on the roster.”
That’s also reminiscent of last year. Think back to the heroes of the Wild Card Series. Who comes to mind? Tarik Skubal, of course. But the biggest hit was by Andy Ibáñez, and the biggest outs may have come from Sean Guenther — two players who were, and remain, role players.
“They give us a 26-man roster. I don’t know why we wouldn’t use it — and our players know that,” Hinch said.
Now the Tigers will see if their momentum can travel with them to Houston. They’re 5-7 away from Comerica Park so far. After the Astros, they have four games in Anaheim against the Angels (12-15) and three games in Denver against the Rockies (4-23).
“I like the fact that we’re going to start over tomorrow,” Hinch said after Sunday’s sweep.
