If we lose two or all of three to the Guardians—at home—then yeah, I'll be nervous.
When the Tigers were still swooning a couple of months or so ago, A.J. Pierzynski said in his podcast that they had gotten off to such a big lead in such a competitive division they were playing bored, or something along those lines. I remember thinking at the time, OK, Pierzynski was inside the game, there might be something to that.
Well, there's zero reason to play bored now. We have to play as though our season is on the line, which, to some degree, it is. We have to come out this series on fire, and we have to lose only if the Guardians outplay us in well-played games. We have Mize, Flaherty and Skubal all starting, no pitching chaos this series. Sloppiness might still be overcome, but it cannot be excused. This is where we find out who these guys really are, and as importantly, what kind of coaching staff we really have.