Hinch: Tigers feel no pressure amid 'improbable' run to ALDS
Manager A.J. Hinch feels his Detroit Tigers enter their ALDS matchup against the Cleveland Guardians playing with house money.
"We can continue to play with no pressure. Nobody expects us to be here, nobody expects us to have gotten here, and the way we got here some would call improbable and very unique for us," Hinch said, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
The Tigers shocked the world by sweeping the perennial juggernaut Houston Astros in the AL wild-card round.
Simply making the postseason appeared to be an afterthought for much of the year, as Detroit sold at the trade deadline and sat five games back of the final wild-card spot on Sept. 1.
Now, Hinch believes the adversity the Tigers have overcome has sharpened their claws enough to compete with any team.
"We're just trying to stack good days on good days," he said. "I think (our journey) shows we can play with anybody. I said this to our team after we won, that everybody was saying we're not playoff tested. We're pretty tested now, and we're heading into this series with a ton of confidence."
The Guardians won the season series 7-6. First pitch of Game 1 is slated for 1:08 p.m. ET on Saturday in Cleveland.
Detroit will host its first playoff game since 2014 on Wednesday.