DETROIT — The last time Miguel Cabrera drove in five runs in a game without hitting a homer, he hit a two-run double off a Royals rookie starter and former No. 1 overall Draft pick named Luke Hochevar. Cabrera also drove in Carlos Guillen three different times. That was July 21, 2008, in the midst of Cabrera’s first season as a Tiger.
Cabrera has inflicted a historic amount of damage on teams since then, but every big game has included a long ball. Considering how Detroit is finding different ways to score runs these days — and the Tigers scored plenty in Monday night’s 14-0 win over the Rangers at Comerica Park — maybe it’s fitting that their senior hitter does it, too.
After watching teammates slash Comerica Park’s outfield gaps and scamper around the bases in the previous two days, Cabrera got in on the act. His bases-clearing double in the fifth inning pretty much put this game out of reach off longtime nemesis Kyle Gibson, but when the throw went home, Cabrera kept going. Catcher Jonah Heim’s throw easily beat him to third, but replay review showed that Cabrera’s hook slide contorted him around the tag.
Cabrera’s trek from home to third, timed at 13.42 seconds by Statcast, is about as close as the 38-year-old can get to a triple, which he hasn’t recorded since 2016. The damage helped saddle Gibson, a former American League Central rival with the Twins and current Trade Deadline target by contenders, with eight runs on 10 hits before he was pulled with none out in the sixth.