It didn’t matter that the Indians had their “ace” in Ubaldo Jimenez on the hill tonight, it didn’t matter that Jim Thome hit a home run in his return to Minnesota, it didn’t even matter that the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 7-6.
Why?
Because the Detroit Tigers reduced their magic number to zero after defeating the Oakland A’s 3-1 Friday night from the Oakland Coliseum. The win marked the Tigers’ first division championship since 1987 and the first AL Central Division crown ever. Back in 1987 the American League consisted of only the AL East and West.
Saturday night’s win also puts the Tigers two games up on the Texas Rangers for the second seed in the American League and only three games behind the New York Yankees for the best record in the American League.
Doug Fister was once again spectacular for the Tigers allowing only 1 run in 8 innings while walking zero and striking out 6. He at one time retired 17 straight with his only real blemish coming in the bottom of the second after a Josh Willingham solo home run. This like the Indians win and overall season became mute after Jhonny Peralta tied the game with a one out single to center in the top of the sixth. The Tigers didn’t look back when Wilson Betemit hit an RBI triple in the then Don Kelly adding some insurance when Don Kelly hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh.
Jose Valverde came in during the 9th and like we’ve seen all season nailed things down in the 9th for his 45th consecutive save of the season.
A’s starter Trevor Cahill (11-14) went 6 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs on nine hits, four walks and a hit batter on 106 pitches. He struck out four.
The game was delayed for about 16 minutes going into the top of the fourth after power went out in the Oakland Coliseum.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .248 |
| Kelly, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .235 |
| Young, D, LF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .274 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .335 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .325 |
| Avila, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .298 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .302 |
| Betemit, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .281 |
| Inge, 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .202 |
| Santiago, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .269 |
| Totals | 33 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 22 | .275 |
| Oakland | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .271 |
| Weeks, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .297 |
| Matsui, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 |
| Willingham, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .253 |
| DeJesus, RF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .236 |
| Pennington, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .266 |
| Allen, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .215 |
| Powell, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .170 |
| Sogard, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .204 |
| Totals | 31 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | .246 |
2B: Martinez, V (35, Cahill).
3B: Santiago (3, Cahill), Betemit (3, Cahill).
HR: Kelly (5, 7th inning off Cahill, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Kelly 5; Cabrera, Mi; Martinez, V 3; Peralta, Jh; Betemit 3; Santiago 4.
RBI: Kelly 2 (20), Betemit (45).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betemit 2; Martinez, V 2; Avila.
SAC: Kelly.
GIDP: Young, D.
Team RISP: 1-for-12.
Team LOB: 9.
2B: Crisp (27, Valverde).
HR: Willingham (27, 2nd inning off Fister, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Crisp 2; Willingham 4; DeJesus 2.
RBI: Willingham (92).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Powell; Willingham.
Team RISP: 0-for-5.
Team LOB: 3.
FIELDING
Outfield assists: Matsui (Betemit at home).
DP: 2 (Cahill-Pennington-Allen, Matsui-Powell).
| Detroit | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fister(W, 9-13) | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2.98 |
| Valverde(S, 45) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.44 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4.03 |
| Oakland | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahill(L, 11-14) | 6.2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4.31 |
| Breslow | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.83 |
| De Los Santos | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.98 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3.77 |
WP: Cahill.
IBB: Cabrera, Mi (by Cahill).
HBP: Jackson, A (by Cahill).
Pitches-strikes: Fister 91-63, Valverde 19-13, Cahill 106-57, Breslow 24-14, De Los Santos 15-10.
Groundouts-flyouts: Fister 9-5, Valverde 1-0, Cahill 11-2, Breslow 0-3, De Los Santos 0-0.
Batters faced: Fister 27, Valverde 4, Cahill 32, Breslow 4, De Los Santos 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Breslow 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Eric Cooper. 1B: Jim Reynolds. 2B: Mike DiMuro. 3B: Andy Fletcher.
Weather: 59 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to RF.
T: 2:25 (:16 delay).
Att: 31,022.
Ref: Detroit Free Press, MLB.com
