Jose Valverde sets Tigers' saves record as team's win streak hits 9

BOX

MAGIC NUMBER

8

KEY MILESTONE

43 saves: Jose Valverde set the Tigers club record after a difficult ninth inning, allowing him to pass the 42 of Todd Jones.

KEY STATS

1 RBI: The Tigers scored two runs, but Delmon Young was the only one who got an RBI on the day. That's because ...

4 GIDP: Victor Martinez drove in the other run, but he doesn't get an RBI because he hit into a double play while doing so. Turns out that would be a theme for the day, as Martinez hit into 4 double plays in the game. According to a Baseball-Reference search, that's never happened in franchise history. Eddie Mayo hit into three on Sept. 6, 1947. By the way, Young grounded into the Tigers' fifth GIDP of the game.

0 runs, 7 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks: Doug Fister continued his dominance since the trade. He improved to a 5-1 record in Detroit.

KEY PLAY(S)

Jose Valverde gets a grounder with one out in the ninth, then strikes out Rene Tosoni for the final out.

KEY THOUGHTS

When you're rolling, you're rolling. The Tigers have now won 9 consecutive games, all against the AL Central. You have to go back to a Sept. 1 game against the Kansas City Royals to find a Tigers loss. FS Detroit reports nine games is the longest win streak since May of 1984. Also, Detroit is now 22 games over .500 for the first time since 2006.

With the win, the Tigers are 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees for top seed in the AL. They are 2 games ahead of the Rangers. (Both teams have yet to finish their games as I type this.)

Doug Fister, what more can you say? He's been an incredible addition. Dave Dombrowski's finest midseason move with the Tigers, by far. Not only can he pitch, he can field! (No video yet, but I hope they post it). He's a lot of fun to watch. Well, all the Tigers are right now.

Maybe the best move all: Alex Avila got a day off at last!

Detroit heads on the road to Chicago tomorrow. Let's see if they keep rolling.