Why the Detroit Tigers Are in First Place and the Hottest Team in Baseball

Like former Arizona Cardinals coach Denny Green famously once said,

"They are who we thought they were."

And after the Detroit Tigers swept the Chicago White Sox, took first place in the American League Central, and earned their 13th victory in the last 15 games, the Tigers are finally becoming who we thought they were.

Detroit went into the 2012 campaign with perhaps the highest expectations ever, and they were the unanimous favorite to run away with the division crown. But after a lackluster start where, on June 6, the team was six games under .500 and six games out of first, everyone was scratching their heads, wondering what was the problem and who was the most to blame.

But the Tigers are clicking on all cylinders this month and are finally starting to realize the potential that people saw going into the year.

Rookie pitcher Jacob Turner earned his first Major League win, and Miguel Cabrera crushed his 300th career home run in the Tigers 6-4 victory over the White Sox on Sunday, capping a 6-1 home stand against two of the better teams in baseball.

At 52-44, the Tigers have the best record they've had all season, and here are six of the biggest reasons they are the hottest team in baseball: 

Cabrera Proving He's the Best Hitter in the League

Miguel Cabrera hit his 299th and 300th home runs on Sunday, helping the Tigers clinch the sweep and cementing himself as one of the best hitters in baseball and one of the best sluggers of all time.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland's comments about Cabrera after Sunday's win explain what kind of class the 29-year-old third baseman has put himself in.

“He’s the Michael Jordan,” Leyland said to MLive.com's James Schmehl. “He’s the Tom Brady. The Wayne Gretzky. That’s what he is in our sport.”

Most players who put up superstar numbers—like Cabrera has done his whole career—receive praise from their manager, but his jaw-dropping production has his teammates jumping at the opportunity to voice their opinion.

"Dude has some of the most ridiculous pop I've ever seen," Tigers left fielder Quintin Berry said to the Associated Press after Sunday's game. "His smooth swing, to be able to go that high up and dead center, it's amazing. It's fun to watch. He does it in BP and he does it in the game. It's unreal."

Alex Avila added to Berry's praise.

“As hard as this game is, and this game is really hard, he makes it look like anyone can do it,” Avila said to MLive.com. “And, it’s very impressive.”

Cabrera is hitting .330 (.389 OBP) with 23 home runs and 79 RBI's in 96 games this season, and he's been in the zone this month, with an OBP of .446, 5 homers and 15 RBI's in July.

On Sunday, he became the 14th player all-time to hit 300 home runs before turning 30 years old. In his nine years in MLB, Cabrera's been a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, a seven-time All-Star and is the defending AL batting champion.

Cabrera, who has yet to win an MVP award, is giving himself a good argument with his performance this season.

So far, since becoming a Tiger in 2008, Cabrera has finished fifth, second, fourth and 13th, respectively, in MVP voting, but this season, he's on pace to add some hardware to his mantle. 

Bullpen Turnaround

The Tigers bullpen had a rough start to the year and were frequently the most to blame when Detroit was struggling the most. But lately, the Tigers relievers have been one of the biggest keys to the team's resurgence.

Setup man Joaquin Benoit earned his second save of the season on Sunday and has a 2.93 ERA.

Benoit hasn't surrendered a hit in his last three appearances, and excluding allowing three runs in a letdown loss against the Baltimore Orioles on July 14, Benoit has only given up three hits, three earned runs and one walk in his last 10 outings.

Right-hander Brayan Villarreal leads the team with a 1.44 ERA this season and is yielding just a .189 opponent average.

Villarreal has been battling a neck injury that's kept him on a day-to-day watch but has fought through it, allowing just two earned runs in his last 14.2 innings.

Despite Villarreal and Benoit's performances, they've arguably been outshined in July by left-hander Phil Coke.

Coke gave up his first earned run of the month on Sunday but didn't surrender a run in his last seven appearances in July and just two earned runs in his last 15 outings.

Offense Cruising

Behind the Tigers portly pair of superstar sluggers, Detroit's offense has been surging this month. Detroit has the most runs (94) and wins (14) in the AL in July and is second in the league in average (.288).

Cabrera and Fielder have combined for eight home runs and 31 RBIs in July, and their presence is making it easier for everyone else in the lineup to produce.

The Tigers have a team on-base percentage of .356 this month, and they're slugging .463 and have an OPS of .819.

Six Tigers are hitting over .300 in July, and four players are hitting .300 or above for the season (including Andy Dirks who's set to return soon).

Players like Quintin Berry, Brennan Boesch and Jhonny Peralta have vastly improved, and the Tigers are 26-12 since leadoff hitter Austin Jackson has returned from the disabled list.

July has been the best offensive month for the Tigers as a team in every major statistical category. Excluding a 13-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on July 17, the team is averaging 5.2 runs per game and has outscored their opponents 94-57 this month.

Back End of the Rotation Coming Through

23-year-old Rick Porcello is beginning to come around in his fourth year in the Major Leagues.

The Tigers No. 4 starter threw his best game of the season in Saturday's win over the White Sox, giving up just one earned run on five hits, four strikeouts and zero walks in eight strong innings.

Porcello, who has his ERA down to 4.40, hasn't lost a start since June 20, and the Tigers have won the last five games that the right-hander has taken the hill.

Max Scherzer, the Tigers No. 3 starter, has won three of his last four decisions. After spending most of the season with an ERA above five, Scherzer's ERA in three starts in July is 2.84.

And Turner allowed the Tigers' coaching staff to take a collective deep breath, rebounding from a rough outing a week ago, earning his first career win on Sunday.

Bottom of the Lineup Stepping Up

Cabrera and Fielder have gotten most of the attention and credit for the Tigers turnaround, and for good reason, but Detroit has gotten a huge lift from the bottom of the lineup.

Brennan Boesch had been puzzlingly poor this season, but since the All-Star break, Boesch and the other Tigers' role players are stepping up.

Boesch hit his 11th home run of the season on Sunday and is hitting .362 (17-for-47), with three home runs and 14 RBI's in 15 games in July. He has only gone hitless in two games this month and is finally hitting over .250 (.254 overall), raising his average 34 points in July.

Despite going hitless in the series-sweeping win, Jhonny Peralta has been raking as of late, with 17 hits in his last 11 games going into Sunday. Peralta is hitting .339 with a .383 on-base percentage in July and had a torrid stretch where he had eight RBIs in four games earlier this month.

Peralta has been the subject of several trade discussions but hasn't let the chatter get to him. He's proved his worth this month and has been solid defensively, with a .986 fielding percentage this year. 

The Fans

During the Tigers' sweep of the White Sox at Comerica Park, Detroit's fans continued to show why they are some of the best in the league.

The three-game weekend series saw over 125,000 fans file in downtown Detroit to witness the Tigers retake first place. The Tigers have sold out the last four games and have 19 sellouts so far this season.

Baseball is one of the most insignificant sports when it comes to home-field advantage, but Detroit fans give the Tigers an unlikely boost.

In fact, the Tigers' fan support caught everyone's attention in Detroit's series win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley field in mid-June.

“Obviously it is a little strange,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said to ESPN.com's Bruce Levine in an article titled, 'Tigers fans take over Wrigley.' “Today it seemed like (there were) quite a bit more (Tiger fans).”

According to MLive.com, the three-game series in Chicago drew 124,782 fans to Wrigley Field, which set a Cubs all-time record for the highest attendance for a three-game, midweek series. Wrigley Field is 98 years old, and the Cubs are in last place. 

Tigers fans had a lot to do with that.

"The fans were incredible," Leyland said to MLive.com's Chris Iott after the Tigers victory over the Cubs on June 14. "I got chills out in the outfield running when I was warming up. I just jogged out to center and back, and they went nuts. The whole outfield bleachers were really loud."

As the summer treads on, and the Tigers continue to thrive on the field, fans will continue to pack the stands at Comerica Park and help the team's push for the AL pennant.