Keith Allison, Flickr
Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-4 in Detroit’s regular-season finale Wednesday night to bump his average up to .344 and clinch the American League batting title.
The last Tiger to win a batting title was Magglio Ordonez, with a .367 average in 2007.
Cabrera’s average was at .310 at the end of July, but he hit .400 over the final two months of the season to surpass Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez and Texas’ Michael Young in the average rankings.
That late charge has thrust Cabrera back into the MVP race, alongside Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. Cabrera hit four home runs on Detroit’s last homstand to get to 30 on the year. He also drove in 105 runs and scored 110.
Cabrera is now just the third active player to win a batting title, HR title and RBI title in his career. Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols are the others. Cabrera led the league in RBI last season with 126, and he topped the home run chart in 2008, his first season in Detroit, with 37.