AJ Hinch needs to wake Tigers up after players' underwhelming quotes amid slide

The Tigers were shut out by the Guardians on Wednesday, marking a series loss and bringing Cleveland's trail behind them in the AL Central down to 4.5 games with 10 contests still left in the regular season (and four games against each other).

Jack Flaherty pitched a strong five innings of one-run ball but was ultimately tagged with the loss when the Tigers' offense couldn't capitalize on three hits and two walks off Guardians starter Gavin Williams. Five Cleveland relievers took the mound behind him, but Detroit only managed to get a single hit off of them.

Brant Hurter gave up a run and was yanked after getting just two outs, then José Urquidy gave up two more in the ninth. It brought the Guardians to a six-game winning streak, and it only compounded fears that Cleveland will do the impossible and push the Tigers out of the division lead they've held since April 23.

Fans are rightfully freaking out, but the Tigers themselves aren't on that same wavelength. After the loss, Riley Greene said, "I don't think anyone feels any kind of pressure. We're playing the game of baseball. No matter who we're playing, we got to win. It is what it is. We got to show up tomorrow and win."

Tigers have frustratingly neutral answers to slowly losing their once-dominant hold on the AL Central

The rest of the team has basically been saying the same thing. AJ Hinch said after the Tigers' first loss of the series, "If you see it as pressure, I bet it feels daunting. If you describe it as that, that's daunting. We don't have that."

But ... shouldn't they? The Tigers have also talked a lot about having a hunter vs. hunted mentality this season; the former is basically brand new to a team that hasn't won the division since 2014, but they're trying to maintain that mindset. Still, they talk about wanting to keep the chip on their shoulder that helped them overcome the 0.7% playoff odds they had in August of last year, but they're not really playing like it.

The Tigers should feel a little pressure right now; they should feel hunted, because that's exactly what the Guardians are doing. They're right on their heels, and the Tigers shouldn't pretend that they're above it. They shouldn't play like they're afraid, necessarily, but they definitely need to stop playing like they've become complacent.