At the break, he had walked 51 times and struck out only 46 times in 359 plate appearances. His walk rate (14.2 percent) was the best of his career, while his strikeout rate (12.8 percent) was the lowest. Since the break, his strikeout rate has crept back toward his career norm of about 20 percent.

Detroit is in a good spot for a first-round bye, but there are still too many teams within shouting distance to fully relax. In the National League, the Brewers are a full five games ahead of the Tigers, while the Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers are all within two games of Detroit.

Dillon Dingler tripled in a six-run first inning and the Detroit Tigers finished a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 7-2 win.

The Tigers and Astros have met in two wildly different games, despite the same coming out on top. After thumping the Astros 10-0 on Monday night, Detroit and Houston went into extras deadlocked at zero. However, several good at-bats by the Tigers in the 10th inning led to them scoring the game-winning run on a Gleyber Torres.

The Detroit Tigers' special season continued on Tuesday night as they walked off the Houston Astros in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the team's fourth shutout victory in their last seven games and preserved the best record in the American League.

Houston Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell left Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers on a cart after crashing into the center field fence in the first inning