Tigers clinch fourth straight AL Central title with 3-0 win over Twins

It wasn’t the smooth road many anticipated, but the Detroit Tigers continued their dominance in the AL Central, clinching a fourth straight division title with a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. 

Detroit entered Sunday needing a win or a Kansas City Royals loss against the Chicago White Sox to clinch. They decided to handle business on their own, riding a stellar outing from starter David Price and a rare lights out performance from their bullpen past the finish line.  

It was the type of clutch performance Tigers’ general manager Dave Dombrowski had in mind when he acquired Price from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline. Though he probably didn’t anticipate needing one in September just to set a clearer path to October. Price pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits while striking out eight. That gave him the MLB strikeout crown with 271. 

With one out In the eighth inning, manager Brad Ausmus turned the ballgame over to his much maligned bullpen. The struggles of Detroit’s bullpen, particularly Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan in the eighth and ninth innings,  have been well documented all season, but they were both perfect on Sunday. Chamberlain finished the eighth, while Nathan picked up his 35th save with a 17-pitch ninth. 

It’s the formula Ausmus hoped to use with more consistent success all season. Through stubbornness, perhaps, he’s stuck with it all season. On Sunday, when he needed it to work the most, it did. 

Detroit’s offense has been up and down all season as well. On Sunday, they managed only four hits against rookie Kyle Gibson and Minnesota’s bullpen. Ian Kinsler had three of them, including a third inning home run that opened the scoring and an insurance RBI single in the seventh. Torii Hunter added a sacrifice fly to wrap it up. 

The Tigers will now advance to the ALDS where they’ll visit the Baltimore Orioles beginning on Thursday. By avoiding a possible play-in game on Monday, Brad Ausmus can line up his rotation as he desires for that best-of-5 series. 

The Royals, who are currently trailing 4-2 in Chicago, will now host either the Oakland A’s or Seattle Mariners in Tuesday’s AL wild-card game. 

It wasn’t the wild final day scenario it could have been in the Central, but tip your caps to the Royals for fighting all the way to the end to keep it interesting, Who knows, the two division rivals could yet meet again, in October, this time with an even bigger prize at stake. 

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813