DETROIT, Mich. — The stage had been set since Thursday night.
It just took until Sunday afternoon for everything to fall into place.
With a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins, the Tigers clinched their fourth straight American League Central Division championship on the final day of the regular season.
The Tigers had gone into Friday needed a win and a Kansas City Royals loss to officially claim the division title, but losses on Friday and Saturday from Detroit delayed things as the Royals split two games with the Chicago White Sox over that stretch.
Ian Kinsler homered and drove two runs, and David Price struck out eight over 7.1 shutout innings to lead Detroit to their clinching win on Sunday. Price finishes the regular season as the M.L.B. strikeout king with 271.
The Tigers will face the American League East champion Baltimore Orioles in a best-of-five American League Divisional Series:
Game 1: Tigers at Orioles – Thursday, October 2
Game 2: Tigers at Orioles – Friday, October 3
Game 3: Orioles at Tigers – Sunday, October 5
*Game 4: Orioles at Tigers – Monday, October 6
*Game 5: Tigers at Orioles – Wednesday, October 8
* – if necessary
