MINNEAPOLIS -- The Detroit Tigers were soaked in the joy of another division title, jumping around in their matching, drenched T-shirts when Torii Hunter darted from the room. He came back a few seconds later, bear-hugging an important piece of the party: manager Jim Leyland. "I got Skip! I got Skip! I got Skip!" Hunter yelled. The gruff old skipper was smiling wide, and he even did a little dance before retreating to his office. The Tigers were sure having fun, and they want to throw a bigger celebration next month. Max Scherzer earned his 21st win and the Tigers became AL Central champions for the third straight year by beating the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on Wednesday night. "I just dont think people realize how hard it is to win," Leyland said before Hunter nabbed him. The 68-year-old managers voice cracked several times as he fought off tears during his postgame interview. Hunters single followed a leadoff triple by Austin Jackson in the first inning, and that was all Scherzer (21-3) and the Tigers needed. "For us to be able to do it three straight years now is really special and a testament to the talent in our clubhouse," Scherzer said. Scherzer gave up two singles in seven innings. Jose Veras and Drew Smyly teamed up for the eighth and Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth for his 24th save in 25 tries. A few dozen Tigers fans in attendance at Target Field cheered from their seats while Miguel Cabrera and his teammates mobbed Benoit in front of the mound after he struck out Josh Willingham to end the game. The celebration picked up even more in the clubhouse, where the Tigers sprayed sparkling wine all over each other and started smoking cigars once the bottles were empty. Scherzer spun one more solid start for the AL Cy Young Award voters to consider, except for the season-high six walks and 123 pitches. He struck out 10 and lowered his ERA to 2.90, ensuring hell finish the season with the most wins in the major leagues. Jordan Zimmermann, the next closest, has 19 for Washington. "Twenty-one wins. We call him Black Jack," Hunter said, ski goggles resting on the top of his head. Second-place Cleveland beat the Chicago White Sox, but the Tigers maintained their 4 1/2-game lead. The Indians control the second AL wild-card spot. Kevin Correia (9-13) did his best to give the Twins a chance, giving up seven hits and one run over seven innings to finish his first season with the Twins with a 4.18 ERA. "They earned it. They did a great job this year," Correia said of the Tigers. The clear favourites to win the Central again after getting swept by San Francisco in last years World Series, the Tigers havent had a losing month this season. They tightened their grip on the division with a 12-game winning streak shortly after the All-Star break. Cabrera has followed his Triple Crown season with another spectacular year despite persistent midsection injuries. The supporting cast of Prince Fielder, Omar Infante, Jackson and Hunter has helped Detroit stay one of baseballs best-hitting teams. The rotation has been even better. Anibal Sanchez and Scherzer have turned star right-hander Justin Verlander into an afterthought at times, and Doug Fister and Rick Porcello are two of the best fourth and fifth starters around. The bullpen, shaky at the start, has been more stable with Benoit as the closer. Now its on to the post-season, where the Tigers have had some success under Leyland but still fell short of the ultimate goal, the teams first World Series title since 1984. They were American League champions in 2006 and runners-up in 2011. Its still too early to tell which team the Tigers will play in the division series, but they werent worried about that on Wednesday. "When we started in spring training, it was almost like the only thing we could do was fail. People had such high expectations," Leyland said. "I talked about that and said, Dont get caught up in the expectations. Get caught up in how youre going to live up to the expectations." Scherzer struck out four straight in one stretch. The first hit, by Chris Parmelee in the fourth inning, was a slow roller that didnt reach third base. Scherzer snagged it but had no play, grimacing about the blemish on the scoreboard. He retired the next batter on an infield popup. Then in the fifth after a single and a walk with one out, Scherzer went to a 3-1 count on Brian Dozier, who has quietly become perhaps this depleted Twins teams best hitter with Justin Morneau now in Pittsburgh and Joe Mauer recovering from a concussion. Scherzer struck out Dozier on a mid-80s mph slider and watched catcher Alex Avila fire a perfect throw to third base that caught Alex Presley stealing. Scherzer pumped his arm as he walked off the mound. NOTES: Leyland said he hopes SS Jose Iglesias (left hand) will play Friday in Miami, where Porcello (13-8, 4.38 ERA) will pitch against RHP Tom Koehler (4-10, 4.45 ERA). ... With the Tigers losing their DH for the weekend, Victor Martinez could catch some and give Fielder a few innings off at 1B, Leyland said. Fake Brewers Jerseys . Cilic cruised to victory, beating the seventh-seeded Seppi 6-1, 6-3 in just 72 minutes. He faced only one break point, winning 24 out of 29 points played on the first serve. Milwaukee Brewers Shirts . On Saturday, the paths of Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn cross again as opposing quarterbacks. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/. So they rushed to re-sign the first baseman who general manager Ben Cherington described Friday as "a unique player." The World Series champions finalized a $32 million, two-year agreement Thursday with the slugging former catcher who turned into a surprisingly good defender. Brewers Jerseys 2020 .com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic. Wholesale Brewers Jerseys . Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Flames, handing Calgary its team record sixth consecutive home regulation loss.The Penguins get by the Blue Jackets, the Wild and Kings force Game Sevens. Notes on Malkin, Crosby, Johnson, Dubinsky, Parise, Kopitar, Williams, Stalock and more. PENGUINS GET PAST BLUE JACKETS Pittsburgh looked like they were free and clear after racing out to a 4-0 lead, led by Evgeni Malkins hat trick, but then the Blue Jackets scored three goals in a 4:52 span in the third period to make for a heart-stopping finish. In the end, the Penguins held on to win 4-3, taking the series in six games. Malkin, who took some criticism for his lack of production, finished the series with seven points in six games. Not bad at all. After being on the ice for 71.2% of 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game Six, Malkin finished the series with an impressive 59.2% Corsi percentage. Malkin was the driving force for Pittsburgh in the deciding game, as was D Kris Letang, who was on for 21 5-on-5 shot attempts for and seven against. Penguins D Matt Niskanen contributed a couple of assists, giving him eight points for the series. That tied D Paul Martin for the Penguins scoring lead. The ever-disappointing Sidney Crosby (I kid, I kid) had six assists in six games and was on the ice for 61.3% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. If thats a Crosby worthy of criticism, rue the day that he starts playing to his typical level of excellence. Columbus attack was paced by a couple of defencemen. Fedor Tyutin, with a goal and an assist, and Jack Johnson, with two assists, led the charge. Johnson finished the series with a team-leading seven points, despite struggling in puck possession terms. While Johnson struggled in terms of possession, James Wisniewski fared pretty well in that regard, at least in relative terms. Centres Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Johansen each had six points for the Blue Jackets, while rookie LW Boone Jenner had five. Dubinsky had 40 hits over the course of the series, a total that leads the NHL postseason. That the series proved to be competitive should come as no surprise, but it should also come as no surprise that the Penguins had the high-end skill to overcome a spirited challenge from Columbus. WILD FORCE SEVEN Fighting for their playoff lives, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead, gave it back, then scored the winner with 6:29 left in third period, before adding a couple of empty-netters to ice a 5-2 victory in Game Six, forcing Game Seven back in Denver. Wild LW Zach Parise had a huge game, netting the game-winner as part of a two goal, two assist performance. Parise now has 10 points in the postseason, tied with Colorados Nathan MacKinnon for the playoff scoring lead. Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu each had twoo assists and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist.dddddddddddd Wild LW Nino Niederreiter had quite a game in possession terms, on for 15 shot attempts for and three against (83.3%). With Niederreiter off the ice, the Wild had 38.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Though they came out on the losing end, Colorado did get C Matt Duchene back in the lineup and he contributed an assist in 18:52 of ice time. RW Ryan OReilly assisted on both Colorado goals. That this series is going seven games is rather fortunate for the Avalanche. The Wild have the best Fenwick Close in the playoffs which, naturally, means Colorado has the worse and that 60-40 disparity in even-strength shot attempts is difficult to overcome. The Avalanche have overcome shot deficits all season, leaning heavily on G Semyon Varlamov, so that is likely what they will need if they are going to get through Game Seven. The Avalanche can also take some comfort in the fact that the home team has won every game in this series. KINGS PUSH SHARKS TO SEVEN Faced with the prospect of losing their three-games-to-none lead in the series, the San Jose Sharks were forced to go into Game Six without top defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was injured in Game Five, and then made the decision to start backup goaltender Alex Stalock in place of Antti Niemi. The result? A 4-1 Kings win, sending the series to Game Seven back in San Jose. Tied at one, with 8:04 remaining, Kings RW Justin Williams scored the winning goal, pushing Stalock back towards the Sharks net, jarring the puck loose and into the net. As controversial as that goal was, the Kings tacked on two more in short order, both by C Anze Kopitar, in the next 2:46 to put the game away. Kopitar added an assist, giving him eight points in the series, to the lead the Kings, while D Drew Doughty added a couple of assists, giving him six points in six games. Williams finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Kings. This series has been very even, with the Sharks holding a 132-128 edge in unblocked shot attempts with the score close (within a goal for the first two periods, tied in the third/overtime). Thats close enough for goaltending to make the difference and, given the uncertainty in that respect with the Sharks, Jonathan Quick is more appealing. Even so, the Sharks do get home-ice advantage in their attempt to avoid being the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series in which they led three games to none. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '