The Detroit Tigers are fighting to survive in this postseason. With Game 4 against the Mariners just minutes away, what should have been a time of desperation and new strategies has become a point of disagreement. Fans are now wondering if the team has already given up because of manager AJ Hinch’s lineup decisions.

Detroit lost Game 3 8-4 on Tuesday, which put a considerable dent in their chances to progress further. Cal Raleigh, Eugenio Suarez, and J.P. Crawford all hit home runs. For eight innings, Detroit’s offense was slow, scoring just one run before a late rally that wasn’t enough. The loss made it clear what problems needed to be fixed right away.

But fans are shocked by Hinch’s answer. Their manager is putting out the same lineup as in Game 3. This shows either stubborn faith or quiet giving up. Kerry Carpenter is the first batter, even though he has a.083 average. Colt Keith (.167) and Riley Greene (.167) are both struggling and are in important middle-order positions. Strangely, Javier Báez is still batting ninth when his average is only .182 and his impact is getting smaller. Casey Mize pitched against Seattle’s Bryce Miller, and the Tigers needed a spark, but they’re getting déjà vu.

The backlash has come quickly and strongly. Fans of the Detroit Tigers took to social media to complain about Hinch not changing the lineup, which hasn’t been working. Some people say that the fact that the lineup hasn’t changed means that Detroit doesn’t have enough depth to play at this level. Others think it’s just managers being stubborn at the worst time. It looks like the organization is going down with the ship instead of making the big changes it needs to stay afloat.

Tigers Fanbase Erupts at AJ Hinch’s Lineup Call

Fans were angry on social media because they had seen this story before. When the lineup card came out with the same nine names, the Tigers faithful made their displeasure known on social media.

“Lineup or boarding order for the plane to Cancun?” One fan sarcastically posted about how pointless it seemed to run back a batting order that had only scored one run in eight innings in Game 3. With Carpenter’s .083 average and Torres’ .333 average hiding the fact that he had no extra-base hits in the series, the gallows humor was spot on.

Another fan cut deeper: “No sense of torturing anyone again watching this team attempt to hit a baseball.” The comment pointed out a harsh truth: Keith and Greene, who both had a.167 batting average, had no RBIs in the series. Their continued presence in the three and four spots went against the usual playoff advice to ride hot hands.

“Looks like at least zero runs and three hits today!” made the pessimism even worse. “Go Tigers!” and the losing team said, “We’re done.” A fan wrote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” which was the harshest thing anyone said. The numbers backed up the frustration: the lineup had only a .182 collective average through three games, and Torkelson’s four RBIs were the only thing that got the offense going. At this point, it seemed like Hinch was giving up on his team instead of believing in them when he kept the same players