Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Jose Reyes became the first player in the New York Mets’ half-century history to win a National League batting title, edging Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun by five percentage points in a controversial finish Wednesday.
Perhaps playing his final game for the Mets, Reyes led Braun .336 to .335 at the start of the day.
Reyes bunted for a hit in the first inning of New York’s game against Cincinnati and then left the game with a .337 average. That led Braun needing to go 3 for 4 or better in Milwaukee’s regular-season finale against Pittsburgh, but Braun had an 0-for-4 night and wound up at .332.
(Story Continues…)
By HOWIE RUMBERG
The Associated Press
————–
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.
