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Gordon, Cabrera win batting titles

The Miami shortstop beat out Bryce Harper in the NL, and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won his fourth title in five years in the AL.

The Associated Press
October 5, 2015 at 5:06AM
Miami Marlins' Christian Yelich, left, and Dee Gordon smile after they scored on Justin Bour's two-run double against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz) ORG XMIT: MIN2015100423014574
Gordon (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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NEW YORK – Miami's Dee Gordon had three hits on the final day of the season to edge Washington's Bryce Harper for the NL batting title Sunday, and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won his fourth AL championship in five years.

Harper entered with a tiny edge, .330754 to .330606, but Gordon doubled on David Buchanan's first pitch of the game at Philadelphia, then homered and singled in his next two at-bats. Gordon's 3-for-4 day lifted his average to .333, while Harper wound up at .330 when he went 1-for-4 at the New York Mets.

"It feels kind of surreal," said Gordon. "I don't think it hit me yet."

Harper was batting .342 before tailing off in his final 10 games.

Cabrera, who did not play Sunday, finished at .338 to win by a huge margin in the AL over Boston's Xander Bogaerts, who was second at .320.

Baltimore's Chris Davis homered twice Sunday to finish with 47 and led the major leagues for the second time in three years.

Toronto's Josh Donaldson topped the AL in RBI (123) and runs (122).

Colorado's Nolan Arenado and Harper shared the NL home run title at 42. Twenty players hit 30 or more homers, up from 11 last year, and the big league batting average of .254 was its highest since 2012.

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Harper also led the NL in runs (118), and Gordon topped the league in hits (205) and stolen bases (58).

Houston's Jose Altuve led the AL in steals for the second straight year; his total of 38 was the lowest for a league leader since 1961.

Cleveland's Michael Brantley had 45 doubles, the fewest for an AL leader since 1999. Arizona's David Peralta had 10 triples, the fewest for the NL leader since 2003.

Among pitchers, Zack Greinke of the Dodgers won his first NL ERA title to go along with the AL one he earned with Kansas City in 2009. Greinke's 1.66 ERA was the lowest by a qualifying pitcher since Greg Maddux's 1.63 for Atlanta in 1995 and the lowest for the Dodgers since Rube Marquard's 1.58 in 1916. Greinke ended teammate Clayton Kershaw's record streak of four straight big league ERA titles.

David Price, traded from Detroit to Toronto in July, won his second AL ERA title at 2.45.


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Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera returns to the team's dugout during a game against the Texas Rangers, Monday Sept. 28, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins) ORG XMIT: MIN2015100423021475
Cabrera (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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RONALD BLUM

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