PITTSBURGH — Miguel Cabrera used to try to hit batting practice homers out of PNC Park and into the Allegheny River. That was years ago. The past two nights, he has sprayed hits around the field in a streak never seen in his illustrious career.
Cabrera’s 4-for-4 game Wednesday night included three RBI hits, building an early lead that the Tigers held onto for a 5-1 win over the Pirates to avoid a sweep in their three-game series and salvage a 3-3 Interleague road trip to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Manager A.J. Hinch had some question going into this trip how Cabrera would handle six games without a designated hitter. He ended up faring just fine in four games at first base — two in each series, separated by a couple of days as a pinch-hitter on the bench.
Add Cabrera’s four hits Wednesday to his two singles and a ground-rule double in his final three at-bats Tuesday night, and he strung together a career-high seven consecutive hits. His previous career best was six, last reached in 2015, the year he won his fourth American League batting title. It’s also the longest consecutive hit streak by a Tiger since Omar Infante had seven in ’13.
The hit parade has brought Cabrera closer to baseball’s prestigious 3,000-hit club. He stands at 2,971 hits with 21 games left this season.