Andrew Romine Scoffs At Idea Tigers' Loss Was Pivotal: 'Plenty Of Teams Come Back From A Lot More Down'
By Dan Jenkins
@DanTJenkins
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) — The Detroit Tigers' 11-9 loss at the hands of the Seattle Mariners felt like a heartbreaker in every sense of the word.
The team battled back from a four-run deficit twice to take a late lead, only to see it evaporate with one swing of the bat when Franklin Gutierrez hit a pinch-hit grand slam off Neftali Feliz in the eighth inning.
Infielder Andrew Romine, who filled in for shortstop Jose Igelsias (flu-like symptoms) on Tuesday night, was adamant after the game that the team tries not to look at agonizing losses differently from any other defeat.
"It's no different, it's just a loss," Romine said. "I'm not going to make this out to be anything more than it is. It's just another 'L.' It's just a loss, it's not that big of a deal. How much of a difference is it between this game and the first game of the season or the last game of the season? They're all just one game.
"For us to sit around here and think that this is the end of our season because we lost today's game, that's kind of naïve," Romine continued. "I think that every game's got importance to it, but no game is more important than any other one."
"You guys can try to make it out to be bigger than it is, but it's not," Romine told reporters, "it's not more disappointing or less disappointing -- it's just a loss."
The pressure is on for the Tigers to perform if they still hope to be buyers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, though many people believe that possibility has already passed. Romine downplayed any extra stress there might be on players at this time in the season.
"I don't have any control over that, I have nothing to say about it because I'm not the one who makes those decisions," Romine said.
[MORE: Amid Trade Rumors, Tigers' David Price Says: 'I Want To Win Here']
Romine scoffed at the idea that the Tigers' season may be in jeopardy with nine games to go until the deadline.
"I guess we expected more at the beginning of the season, but it's not over -- there's a lot of games left and I've seen plenty of teams come back from a lot more down than we are," Romine said.
The team remains 10 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central Division, which Detroit has won each of the last four seasons. The Tigers are just four games out of the second Wild Card seed, so it's not crazy to think the team could make a run to the postseason.
"We're just trying to win a ballgame every day," Tuesday's starter Shane Greene added.
