Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 9-28-11

--RHP Max Scherzer lasted 5 2/3 innings in his tuneup for the postseason, throwing 109 pitches. Scherzer may have tired a bit at the end, giving up two runs in the sixth after allowing one each in the fourth and fifth. Six of the seven hits he allowed came after two were out in the fourth. While his control was a little erratic, Scherzer kept his fastball down and showed an effective slider. "I'm right where I want to be physically," he said.

--1B Miguel Cabrera enhanced his chances of winning the batting title with a double and his 30th home run of the season. Hitting close to .400 over the last 63 games, he has an RBI in eight straight games and increasingly is mentioned as a top challenger for the AL MVP award. Cabrera takes a league-best .343 batting average into the final regular-season game.

--RF Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a two-run single and an RBI double. The double was only the fourth extra-base hit Ordonez has had in the streak. He's been playing part time but not strictly in a platoon role. He is 25-for-65 (.385) during the streak that began Aug. 15, the day Detroit acquired LF Delmon Young.

--CF Austin Jackson's best weapon is his speed, and it came into play in the first inning, triggering a three-run outburst. He beat out a sharp grounder that the shortstop knocked down but threw wide to first too late to get Jackson. His speed was a bigger factor when the No. 2 hitter, 3B Wilson Betemit, hit a grounder to first for an out. Jackson beat the throw to second, with Indians 1B Carlos Santana double-clutching on the throw and having to throw to the inside of the runner. Jackson scored on a one-out single by LF Delmon Young, and RF Magglio Ordonez had a two-run single later in the inning.

--RHP Jose Valverde ran his saves streak to 48 with a scoreless, one-hit ninth inning to close out Detroit's 9-6 win over Cleveland. Valverde struck out two batters and showed a couple more split-finger fastballs than he generally has used lately. Manager Jim Leyland said he wanted to split his closer and setup man, one working each of the last two games of the regular season, but he wound up using both to turn back a late Indians rally.

--LF Delmon Young snapped out of a mild slump with hits his first three trips to the plate, including a two-run home run in the fourth. Young's RBI single in the first, a grounder up the middle, started a three-run inning. He doubled in the second and hit his 12th home run, his eighth with Detroit, in the fourth.

--3B Wilson Betemit returned to the lineup Tuesday, and manager Jim Leyland inserted him into the second spot in the batting order so he'd get more at-bats. "He came in and said he's OK," Leyland said. Betemit smashed a long solo home run to right in the second inning. Betemit said he's been hitting regularly recently but has had problems with his left knee in the field. He was taken out for defensive purposes after striking out in the fifth. Betemit sprained his left knee sliding into home plate when Detroit clinched its division Sept. 16. He had not played since.

BY THE NUMBERS
4 -- Extra-base hits by RF Magglio Ordonez in his 18-game hitting streak. Ordonez is 25-for-65 (.385) during the streak.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"You kind of look at him and think, 'It's a good thing I don't have to face this guy.'" -- RHP Max Scherzer, on watching teammate Miguel Cabrera close in on the AL batting title.

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