Division Winners (2011–2014)
Four straight AL Central titles from 2011: Verlander's Cy Young and MVP year, then the 2012 pennant.
On September 16, 2011, the Tigers clinched the AL Central with a 3–1 win over the Oakland Athletics, their first AL Central title since joining the division in 1998 and first division title of any kind since 1987. The 2012 title, clinched on October 1 with a 6–3 win against the Kansas City Royals after a fierce battle down the stretch with the Chicago White Sox, marked the first back-to-back divisional titles in team history, and the Tigers went on to win the 2012 American League pennant.
Background
In 2011 Justin Verlander threw his second career no-hitter on May 7 against Toronto, facing the minimum 27 batters, and on August 27 became the first Tiger since Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games. After trailing Cleveland by as many as eight games in May, the Tigers went 18–10 in August, got an 8–1, 1.79 ERA stretch from deadline pickup Doug Fister, and reeled off a 12-game winning streak in September, their longest since 1934. Verlander won the pitching triple crown, a unanimous Cy Young Award and the AL MVP, the first pitcher to do so since Dennis Eckersley in 1992; José Valverde led the AL with 49 saves in 49 chances; Miguel Cabrera won the batting title at .344. The Tigers beat the Yankees 3–2 in the ALDS before losing the ALCS to the defending AL champion Texas Rangers, 4–2.
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