consecutive save of the season, passing Todd Jones as the Tigers' all-time single season saves leader. His 45th save of the season helped the Tigers clinch the AL Central title. On the final day of the regular season, he recorded his 49th straight save, completing his perfect season. He recorded 2 saves against the New York Yankees in the ALDS, the second of which sent the Tigers to the ALCS. He saved one of the Tigers' two ALCS wins. He also won the 2011 Delivery Man of the Year Award and the 2011 AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award. Valverde finished fifth in the 2011 AL Cy Young Award voting, which was won by teammate Justin Verlander. Miguel Cabrera With his Major League-best .344 batting average, Miguel Cabrera won the AL Batting Championship. Cabrera became the first Tiger since Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito in 1961 to reach triple-digits in RBIs (105), runs (111) and walks (108). He also led the AL in on-base percentage (.448) and doubles (48). Miguel finished fifth in the voting for the AL MVP Award, which was won by teammate Justin Verlander. He also won the Luis Aparicio Award, an award given to the best Venezuelan player each year. Alex Avila Catcher Alex Avila had the best season of his young career, hitting .295 with 19 home runs and 82 RBIs. He started in the 2011 MLB All Star game and won the Silver Slugger Award for catchers. Don Kelly Super utility-man Don Kelly made his career debut as a pitcher on June 29, pitching one-third of an inning in a blowout loss to the New York Mets. Three days later, he made his major league debut at catcher, when he relieved Victor Martinez in the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants. This gave Kelly the rare distinction of playing all nine defensive positions in his major league career. Results Standings Game log Regular season |- bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 1 || March 31 || @ Yankees || L 6–3 || Chamberlain (1–0) || Coke (0–1) || Rivera (1) || 48,226 || 0–1 |- |- bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || April 2 || @ Yankees || L 10–6 || Burnett (1–0) || Penny (0–1) || Rivera (2) || 41,462 || 0–2 |- bgcolor="bbffbb" | 3 || April 3 || @ Yankees || W 10–7 || Scherzer (1–0) || Hughes (0–1) || Valverde (1) || 40,574