KEY STAT
HR, HR, HR, HR Miguel Cabrera, Don Kelly, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta. DK and VM hit three-run homers. Cabrera's was of the two-run form after Austin Jackson got thrown out at home a play earlier. Peralta's was solo.
KEY PLAY
We'll give V-Mart the key play for his tie-breaking home run. But maybe the real key play is Al Alburquerque getting a strikeout. He pitched on back-to-back days and appears to be healthy enough for Jim Leyland to put him on the post-season roster with confidence.
KEY THOUGHTS
Good news: The Tigers won. Bad news: The Rangers are winning. Thanks, Seattle.
It wasn't always pretty, but Brad Penny allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings and received credit for the win. So that's 11 on the year. It was probably his last game in the Tigers' uniform, but you never know until you know.
Speaking of postseason posturing, David Pauley did not help his cause. He gave up a single, walk and home run in the eighth inning. The latter two results were after he recorded two outs. Not that Ryan Perry was a think of beauty yesterday or any one day's results are going to push the Tigers to decide one way or the other. But Pauley didn't help his cause, while Perry did work out of trouble on Saturday.
Nice to see the power surge in Detroit today. Even nicer to observe the race for the batting title has a smiling Miguel Cabrera face sitting at No. 1. He went 2-for-3 to improve to .341 on the year.