NEW YORK ? Jose Reyes became the first player in the New York Mets' half-century history to win a National League batting title, edging Milwaukee's Ryan Braun by five percentage points in a controversial finish Wednesday.
Perhaps playing his final game for the Mets, Reyes led Braun .336 to .335 at the start of the day.
Reyes bunted for a hit in the first inning of New York's game against Cincinnati and then came out with a .337 average. That left Braun needing to go 3 for 4 or better in Milwaukee's regular-season finale against Pittsburgh, but Braun had an 0-for-4 night and wound up at .332.
"I'm humbled and honored," Reyes said in a statement issued by the Mets. "It means so much to my family and my country, the Dominican Republic. I have been through a lot over the past few years, so this really means a lot to me. It's also very special to be the first Mets player to win a batting title. There have been so many great players throughout our history."
Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won his first AL title, giving both leagues new batting champions for the second straight year. Cabrera finished at .344, with Boston's Adrian Gonzalez and the Texas Rangers' Michael Young at .338.
Fans at Citi Field booed when Reyes came out.
"It was kind of tough," said Reyes, who can become a free agent after the World Series. "I want to stay in the game. They have to understand, too, what's going on. They have to feel happy about it if I win the battling title."
That he did, about 9 1/2 hours after taking his final swing of the year.
"I'm not going to judge him. I respect whatever decision he decided to make," Braun said before the game, adding after: "I'm a little disappointed, of course, but the chances of actually going 3 for 4 weren't likely."
Toronto's Jose Bautista won his second straight major league home run title with 43, while the Los Angeles Dodgers' Matt Kemp homered in his next-to-last at-bat to lead the NL with 39, one more than Milwaukee's Prince Fielder.
After threatening to become the first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, Kemp faded from the batting race and had a .324 average. Kemp led the NL with 126 RBIs, the first Dodgers player to lead the league in homers and RBIs since Dolph Camilli in 1941.
The Yankees' Curtis Granderson topped the AL with 119 RBIs, one more than teammate Robinson Cano and two in front of Gonzalez.
Cincinnati's Drew Stubbs struck out 205 times, ending Mark Reynolds three-year run as strikeout king. Adam Dunn of the White Sox hit just .159, but didn't play Wednesday and finished with 496 plate appearances, six shy of qualifying. The post-1900 record low among qualifiers was set by Rob Deer at .179 in 1991.
Eugenio Velez of the Dodgers went 0 for 37 this season, a record for at-bats by a position player without a hit, topping Hal Finney's 0 for 35 with Pittsburgh in 1936. Hitless in 46 at-bats since May 2010, Velez broke the modern record for non-pitchers with one more than the mark shared by Pittsburgh's Bill Bergen (1909), Dave Campbell of San Diego and St. Louis (1973) and Milwaukee's Craig Counsell (this season).
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki had 184 hits, ending his record streak of 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons. The Chicago Cubs' Starlin Castro (207) became the youngest player (21 years, 188 days) to win the NL hits title, Young and Gonzalez tied for the AL lead with 213, one ahead Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury.
Bautista (.608) and Braun (.597) led in slugging percentage, and Bautista (.447) and Cincinnati's Joey Votto (.416) topped on-base percentage, with Votto heading the NL for the second straight season.
Atlanta's Michael Bourn swiped two bases and his 61 steals led the NL for the third straight year, while Oakland's Coco Crisp and the Yankees' Brett Gardner shared the AL lead with 49.
Among pitchers, Detroit's Justin Verlander at 24-5 had the most wins in the majors since Arizona's Randy Johnson in 2002. Verlander also won the AL ERA (2.40) and strikeouts (250) titles, becoming the first winner of a pitching triple crown since San Diego's Jake Peavy in 2007.
Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers led the NL in ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248) and tied Arizona's Ian Kennedy for the lead in wins (21).
Tampa Bay's James Shields had 11 complete games, the first in double digits since Johnson's 12 in 1999, and Philadelphia's Cliff Lee became the first pitcher with six shutouts since Tim Belcher's eight for the Dodgers in 1989.
Detroit's Jose Valverde topped the AL with 49 saves, while Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel and Milwaukee's John Axford shared the NL lead with 46.
Pittsburgh (72-90) had a losing record for a major league-record 19th straight season, extending its own record.
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