Hanley Ramirez wins batting title; no 20-game winners for only 2nd time in full season

Ramirez wins batting title; Mauer all but a lock

NEW YORK — Minnesota’s Joe Mauer all but locked up his third American League batting title in four seasons, and Hanley Ramirez became the first Florida Marlins player to win a National League batting crown.

In a year in which home runs increased from last year’s average of 2.01 per game to 2.07, there were no 20-game winners on the mound. It was only the second time that’s happened in a non-shortened season since 1900. The other time was 2006.

Mauer, the only catcher to win an AL batting title, has a .364 average. While Minnesota meets Detroit on Tuesday in an AL Central tiebreaker that counts in the regular-season statistics, Mauer would have to go 0 for 18 or worse to drop behind Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki, who is second at .352.

“I’ll worry about winning the game before I worry about all of that,” Mauer said. “The game is the only thing on my mind right now.”

Ramirez finished with a .342 average and became the first NL shortstop to win a batting title since Dick Groat for Pittsburgh in 1960.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of dedication. And the coaching, they’ve been on me from Day 1,” Ramirez said. “I know I have to keep working hard and try to get better. My family will be happy.”

The Yankees’ CC Sabathia, the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright tied for the major league lead with 19 wins apiece. Sabathia and Wainwright fell short of 20 in their final starts.

“Guys are throwing less innings,” Sabathia said. “Pitch counts, things like that. It is tough.”

Kansas City’s Zack Greinke led the AL with a 2.16 ERA, the league’s lowest since Pedro Martinez’s 1.74 for Boston in 2000. Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals led the NL at 2.24 after missing most of the previous two seasons because of reconstructive elbow surgery and an injured shoulder.

Verlander led the major leagues with 269 strikeouts, and San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum topped the NL for the second straight season with 261.

St. Louis’ Albert Pujols won his first NL home run title, leading majors with 47 despite not hitting any in 79 at-bats after Sept. 9. Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena shared the AL home run title with the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira at 39. Pena’s season ended when he broke two fingers when hit by a pitch from Sabathia on Sept. 7.

Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder finished one home run behind Pujols but had three RBIs on Sunday to tie Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard for the major league lead with 141. Teixeira led the AL with 122 RBIs.

Pujols (.658) was first in the majors in slugging percentage for third straight year, and Mauer (.586) will lead the AL for the first time. Pujols was third in the NL with a .327 average and said he could have hit 50 homers if not wanting to keep his average high.

“Believe me, I can go out there and try to hit the ball out of the park, but that’s being selfish,” he said. “I want to help my team to win and that’s by driving the ball, getting on base and driving it to the gap.”

Heading into the tiebreaker game, there have been 5,038 homers in 2,429 games, according to STATS LLC. The home run average is at its highest level since it was at 2.22 in 2006.

With 225 hits, Suzuki led the AL for the fourth straight time and sixth overall. He set a major league record with his ninth straight 200-hit season, topping Hall of Famer Willie Keeler (1894-01). Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun topped the NL with 203 hits.

After setting a major league record with 204 strikeouts last year, Arizona’s Mark Reynolds whiffed 223 times.

Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury led the AL with 70 steals and Houston’s Michael Bourn paced the NL with 61.

Pittsburgh (62-99) finished with a losing record for a major league-record 17th straight season, surpassing the Philadelphia Phillies from 1933-48.

AP Sports Writers R.B. Fallstrom in Philadelphia, Dan Gelston in Philadelphia and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis, and AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.