THE SIDELINES : Tigers Cut 2 Veteran Pitchers

DETROIT — Guillermo Hernandez and Doyle Alexander, two veteran pitchers who were heroes in different Detroit Tiger playoff drives, were cut today by the American League team.

The Tigers’ decision against offering a contract to either man for the 1990 season excludes them from the team’s 40-man roster and makes them free agents. But Detroit General Manager Bill Lajoie said either player still could end up playing for the Tigers.

Hernandez, the American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner in 1984, when he was 9-3 with 32 saves and a 1.92 earned run average in the Tigers’ drive to the World Series championship, was 2-2 with 15 saves and a 5.74 ERA in 1989.

Alexander, acquired in August, 1987, from the Atlanta Braves, went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA for Detroit that season to lead the Tigers to the AL East championship. He was 6-18 with a 4.44 ERA in 1989.