Around the Baseball Diamond

Sunday, September 28, 2014

David Price leads the Tigers to another division title

Final

Series: Game 4 of 4

Tigers 3

(90-72, 45-36 home)

73°
Clear

1:08 PM ET, September 28, 2014
Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
MIN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
DET	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	-	3	4	0

W: D. Price (15-12)
L: K. Gibson (13-12)
S: J. Nathan (35)

Associated Press

Tigers Clinch AL Central

David Price struck out eight batters over 7 1/3 innings in the Tigers' 3-0 win over the Twins, clinching the AL Central division title.

Tags: MLB, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, David Price

DETROIT -- David Price pitched Detroit to its fourth straight AL Central title with the type of performance the Tigers acquired him for, taking a shutout into the eighth inning of a 3-0 victory over Minnesota on Sunday that wrapped up the division on the regular season's final day.
The Tigers face the Orioles in one AL division series. Game 1 is in Baltimore on Thursday.
Ian Kinsler hit a solo homer in the third, and the Tigers added two more runs in the eighth off Kyle Gibson (13-12).
"We're in. We're in," Kinsler said. "A lot of hard work was put into this, from every single one of the guys."
Detroit entered the game with a postseason berth already wrapped up, but the Tigers led the division by only one game over Kansas City. The victory gave Detroit a division championship under first-year manager Brad Ausmus -- regardless of what the Royals were doing in Chicago against the White Sox.
Detroit got Price (15-12) in a blockbuster deal moments before the trade deadline, and he allowed four hits in 7 1/3 innings in the finale. Joba Chamberlain pitched the rest of the eighth, and Joe Nathan finished for his 35th save in 42 chances.
Nathan, Detroit's maligned closer, retired Oswaldo Arcia on a foul popup to end it, and the Tigers spilled onto the field to celebrate in front of a delighted crowd at Comerica Park. Detroit hadn't clinched a division title at home since 1987, and this game was eerily similar to that one for a while.
Detroit won 1-0 in that `87 clincher at Tiger Stadium, with Frank Tanana pitching a shutout. Price throws nothing like the soft-tossing Tanana, but the 29-year-old left-hander etched his own name into Tigers lore Sunday at Comerica Park.
He struck out eight with two walks and passed Cleveland's Corey Kluber for this year's major league lead in strikeouts with 271.
And Detroit's shaky bullpen had no trouble closing it out. There was an audible groan from the crowd when Ausmus pulled Price in the eighth after 112 pitches, but Chamberlain and Nathan retired the last five Minnesota batters without a hitch.
The Twins battered Detroit for 23 runs over the previous two games, preventing the Tigers from clinching the division earlier. Price shut Minnesota down Sunday, but Gibson nearly matched him. He allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Kinsler's RBI single chased Gibson, and Torii Hunter followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
Now Detroit will try to reach the AL championship series for the fourth straight season as well. The Tigers have not won the World Series since 1984.
Detroit started the season 27-12, and the Tigers looked like heavy favorites in the division after acquiring Price, but they ended up in a tight race throughout September.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: OF Rajai Davis sat out after leaving the previous game with a sprain around his midsection, but trainer Kevin Rand said he was "very encouraged" by the fact that Davis was feeling pretty good before the game Sunday.
UP NEXT
The Tigers went 5-1 against the Orioles during the regular season.

Regular Season Series

Minnesota leads 10-9 (as of Sun 9/28)
Fri 4/25	DET 10, @MIN 6	Recap
Sat 4/26	@MIN 5, DET 3	Recap
Sun 4/27	Postponed/Delayed
Fri 5/9	MIN 2, @DET 1	Recap
Sat 5/10	@DET 9, MIN 3	Recap
Sun 5/11	MIN 4, @DET 3	Recap
Fri 6/13	MIN 2, @DET 0	Recap
Sat 6/14	@DET 12, MIN 9	Recap
Sun 6/15	@DET 4, MIN 3	Recap
Fri 8/22	@MIN 20, DET 6	Recap
Sat 8/23	@MIN 12, DET 4	Recap
Sat 8/23	DET 8, @MIN 6	Recap
Sun 8/24	DET 13, @MIN 4	Recap
Mon 9/15	DET 8, @MIN 6	Recap
Tue 9/16	@MIN 4, DET 3	Recap
Wed 9/17	@MIN 8, DET 4	Recap
Thu 9/25	@DET 4, MIN 2	Recap
Fri 9/26	MIN 11, @DET 4	Recap
Sat 9/27	MIN 12, @DET 3	Recap
» Sun 9/28	@DET 3, MIN 0	Box Score
Complete Schedule: Twins \| Tigers

Scoring Summary

			MIN	DET
	3rd	I Kinsler homered to left (363 feet).	0	1
	8th	I Kinsler singled to left, A Romine scored, E Carrera to third, I Kinsler to second advancing on throw.	0	2
	8th	T Hunter hit sacrifice fly to right, E Carrera scored.	0	3
View complete Play-By-Play

Game Information

Stadium	Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
Attendance	40,501 (98.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time	2:41
Weather	72 degrees, sunny
Wind	5 mph
Umpires	Home Plate - Ed Hickox, First Base - Ron Kulpa, Second Base - Lance Barrett, Third Base - Joe West

Schoop homers, Orioles beat Blue Jays 1-0

Final

Series: Game 3 of 3

Orioles 1

(96-66, 46-35 away)

Blue Jays 0

(83-79, 46-35 home)

1:07 PM ET, September 28, 2014
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
BAL	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
TOR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0

W: M. Gonzalez (10-9)
L: R. Dickey (14-13)
S: Z. Britton (37)

Associated Press

Orioles Shut Out Blue Jays

Jonathan Schoop drove in the only run of the game with a solo home run in the Orioles' 1-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Tags: MLB, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Jonathan Schoop

TORONTO -- With game 162 in the books, Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles can turn their attention to the Detroit Tigers.
Jonathan Schoop homered, Miguel Gonzalez became the fourth Baltimore starter to reach 10 wins, and the AL East champion Orioles headed into the playoffs on a winning note, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Sunday."I wanted our guys to have that feeling of winning the game coming off the field so I couldn't have drawn it up much better," the Orioles manager said.Next up for the Orioles, a date with Detroit in the division series, which begins in Baltimore Thursday."We know what kind of team they've got," said outfielder Nick Markakis, who'll be making his playoff debut. "They've got a strong starting staff and they've got some guys who can swing the bat. We've just got to execute and do our thing."The Tigers beat Minnesota to clinch the Central shortly after the Orioles blanked the Blue Jays."It's playoff time," Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said. "We're going to have to execute. We're going to have to make sure that when opportunities arise, we need to score that run."Baltimore (96-66) snapped a three-game skid with its 13th shutout of the season.Nelson Cruz went hitless in his final regular-season game but finished as Baltimore's second straight American League home run champion. Cruz has 40 homers, one year after teammate Chris Davis led the majors with 53.The Blue Jays (83-79) finished out of the playoffs for the 21st straight season, the longest active drought in baseball.Toronto was 38-24 on the morning of June 7, six games ahead of Baltimore in the East standings. The Blue Jays went 45-55 the rest of the way, including a 9-17 slide in August that all but ended their postseason hopes."We didn't achieve our goals," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said before the game. "It's probably more disheartening this season just because I felt we were close."Gonzalez (10-9) allowed five hits in five shutout innings for his first victory in three starts. He walked none and struck out three.Ubaldo Jimenez, Andrew Miller, Tommy Hunter, Darren O'Day and Zach Britton finished the six-hitter for his 37th save in 41 chances as Showalter kept his relievers fresh for the playoffs.With Gonzalez joining Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris and Chris Tillman, it's the first time since 1997 that Baltimore has had four starters reach double figures in wins. The last quartet to do so was Scott Erickson, Scott Kamieniecki, Jimmy Key and Mike Mussina.Markakis opened the game with a double off R.A. Dickey, but the Blue Jays knuckleballer didn't allow another hit until Schoop's two-out homer in the fifth.The homer was the 211th of the season for Orioles, the most in the majors. Baltimore, which went 79-33 this season in games where they hit at least one homer, has hit 200 or more in each of the past three seasons."One through nine can hit it out, that's what we have as a team," Gonzalez said.Dickey (14-13) lost for the first time in eight starts, allowing two hits and one run in six innings. He walked three and struck out two in his first defeat since Aug. 13 at Seattle."I made a mistake to Schoop and he was the difference in the game," Dickey said.LATE SEASON PICKUPThe Blue Jays claimed RHP Cory Burns off waivers from Tampa Bay and selected 1B Matt Hague from Triple-A Buffalo, returning him to the 40-man roster. To make room, OF Melky Cabrera and RHP Chad Jenkins were transferred to the 60-day DL.WEAKER ON THE WEEKENDThe Orioles went 58-23 in games from Monday through Thursday but 38-43 from Friday through Sunday.CROWDED HOUSEThe Blue Jays drew 45,901 to their season finale, bringing total attendance for 2014 to 2,375,525.UNDER FIREFans booed loudly when a man wearing a Calgary Flames jersey caught a foul ball in the sixth and proudly held it over his head.