Detroit – John Hicks exhaled, deeply.
"That off-day tomorrow will be huge," he said. "It's been a long stretch. A lot of games and not as many days."
That it was. After the 9-2 loss to the Indians Sunday, the Tigers had played 18 games in 17 days, and came out of it with a 10-8 record.
"We hung in there," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We played a lot of close ballgames. One swing of the bat here or there or one good pitch, could've changed it. Ten and eight, yes, but we could have been better.