since Curt Schilling in 2002. August 30: Ramon Santiago hit just his fourth home run of the season, but it was a big one – a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the tenth that gave the Tigers a 2–1 victory over the Royals. August 31: Against his former team, Wilson Betemit hit a two-run double in a three-run eighth inning for the Tigers that provided the final margin in a 5–4 victory over Kansas City. José Valverde ran his consecutive saves streak to 40 and the Tigers (75–61) completed an 18–10 August. September 2: Justin Verlander stifled the Chicago White Sox in an 8–1 win for his 21st of the season, and Jim Leyland became just the fifth manager in 111 years of Tiger baseball to manage 500 wins with the team. The other four are Sparky Anderson (1,331), Hughie Jennings (1,131), Bucky Harris (516) and Steve O'Neill (509). September 3: Trailing 8–1 after the Chicago White Sox scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning, the Tigers mounted an improbable comeback. Scoring three runs in the bottom of the frame, followed by single runs in the seventh and eighth innings—which were also delayed by rain. Detroit still trailed 8–6 in the ninth with Sox closer Sergio Santos on the mound. Ryan Raburn tied the game with a one-out two-run home run. Two batters later, Cabrera hit Santos' first pitch out for an unthinkable 9–8 win. September 4: The Tigers continued their assault on White Sox pitchers that started the night before, hammering 24 hits in an 18–2 rout. Max Scherzer tossed seven scoreless innings for his 14th win of the season. September 5: Doug Fister struck out a career-high 13 batters as the Tigers opened an important three-game series in Cleveland with a 4–2 win. September 7: The Tigers, who went into Cleveland up 6.5 games in the AL Central, ended any thoughts of a collapse by completing a series sweep with an 8–6 win. Justin Verlander struggled at times, but still picked up win #22. September 9: Detroit's seventh straight win, an 8–4 decision over Minnesota, scoring 8 unanswered runs after trailing 4–0 after the top of the 1st, was tempered by the team officially placing outfielder Brennan Boesch on the disabled list with a torn thumb ligament, and declaring that he would not be able to return for the postseason. Boesch was hitting