DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera remains at 499 career home runs. None of them have come off Bryan Shaw. But, man, did he come close Saturday night.
“After he hit that foul ball, I said, ‘Oh my god, brother, I thought that was the one,’” Jeimer Candelario said after the Tigers’ 6-4 win over Cleveland. “I was about to see what the fans would do, if they’re going to jump to the field or something.”
Candelario was on deck when Cabrera’s opposite-field drive screamed down the right-field line before hooking foul. Or it might have been the screams among 32,845 fans who packed Comerica Park on Fiesta Tigres night for a chance to potentially see — or even catch — history. The roar that erupted, the genuine suspense that lingered in the air with Shaw’s 3-2 pitch, sounded like a scene out of the Tigers’ glory years of postseason runs.
Manager A.J. Hinch knew it was foul as he watched from the dugout, but he loved the reaction.
“The fans for a moment got a little feel for what’s to come,” Hinch said.
Cabrera didn’t get the homer, but he got the leadoff walk to spark a go-ahead rally, culminating in Eric Haase’s two-run single. It was his second late-inning meeting against Shaw in as many nights, and their 28th plate appearance against each other in a matchup that dates back a decade. No active reliever has faced Cabrera more often without giving up a home run.
Cabrera has faced plenty of hard-throwing young relievers this year on his march towards hitting history. But as fun as he can make a matchup against unrefined heat, matchups like the last couple nights against a familiar foe are arguably just as fun. Cabrera and Shaw know each other’s tendencies without an analytics report.
“The cat and mouse game with a veteran pitcher is kind of vintage Miggy,” Hinch said. “Who’s going to concede what first?”
Neither matchup between Shaw and Cabrera the last couple nights produced a memorable result, but they were fascinating in their own ways. Shaw pounded the strike zone with cutters against him Friday, but he induced a key strike with a slider in the dirt for a swing-and-miss and a 1-2 count. Cabrera wouldn’t chase the cutter out of the zone, but he just mistimed one over the plate, fouling it back before flying out on a slider on the seventh pitch of the at-bat.
Shaw entered Saturday’s game for the eighth in a 4-4 game with Cabrera leading off as the crowd roared. This time, he seemingly tried to use the energy of the moment against the slugger, throwing two 95+ mph cutters off the plate. Cabrera declined to chase, forcing Shaw to challenge him in the zone with a cutter that Cabrera fouled off.
“When Miggy has those kind of ABs, those guys that he knows, he knows what they want to do to him and he knows what he’s got,” Candelario said.
Unlike Friday, Cabrera didn’t chase the slider this time, putting Shaw in a 3-1 jam. Shaw got to a full count by challenging him at the top of the zone with a cutter, the crowd oohing as Cabrera swung and missed.
Shaw threw his hardest pitch of the night, a 96.2 mph cutter, on the payoff pitch. Cabrera was ready, connecting with authority on an opposite-field swing, almost making Shaw part of history.
“Miggy’s ready for any mistake,” Candelario said. “That’s what he wants. Any mistake, he’ll take advantage.”
The buzz settled down, then rose again as Shaw came back with another 3-2 pitch. He did not challenge him again, instead flopping a slow breaking ball off the plate for ball four.
Cabrera faced a different pitcher in each at-bat Saturday, singling off Sam Hentges ahead of Candelario’s two-run homer in the first inning. He received a standing ovation in the eighth as he made way for pinch-runner Jacob Robson, who came around to score on singles from Candelario, Renato Núñez and Haase.
Some fans filed out as Cabrera entered the dugout, his chase for 500 having ended for the night. Many stayed and kept on cheering as loud as the rally came together.
“That was special to me and my teammates,” Candelario said of the crowd. “Having that support from the fans in Detroit is special.”
It was a best-case scenario for Cabrera. More than milestones, he wants wins again and he wants that feeling from the Tigers’ glory days. His matchup with an old foe helped spark it Saturday.