Cabrera went 3-for-3 and crushed a three-run home run, his second homer of the spring, Akil Baddoo drilled a two-run homer and Matt Manning pitched one-run ball into the fifth inning of the Tigers’ 5-3 win over the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.
Cabrera launched the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning, an 87 mph slider from Yankees left-hander Manny Bañuelos, to left-center field 413 feet.
JEFF SEIDEL: I love Tigers’ trade for Austin Meadows on so many levels
CARLOS MONARREZ: Popular stadium ranking was 100% wrong about Comerica Park
In the sixth inning, Cabrera got a 2-2 changeup that stayed up in the zone and lined it up the middle for his third hit, then received a nice round of applause from fans after Spencer Torkelson pinch-ran for him. He singled to right field on a 3-1 sinker to open the second inning.
Cabrera, who turns 39 on April 18, hit .321 (9-for-28) with five RBIs, two walks and five Ks this spring. He’ll enter the regular season 13 hits away from 3,000 for his career.
Baddoo lined a first-pitch cutter to right field from righty Jhony Brito for a two-run shot, his fourth home run of the spring, in the seventh inning.
Manning pitched 4⅓ innings, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts, throwing 42 of 73 pitches for strikes. The 24-year-old finishes the spring pitching 12⅓ innings across four starts with a 3.65 ERA.
[ Tigers Opening Day: Your guide to weather, parking, restrictions, more ]
The ninth pick in the 2016 draft, Manning worked out of trouble in the third inning. He walked two but struck out Aaron Judge swinging on a 93 mph fastball and induced Giancarlo Stanton on a weak groundout to the mound.
Manning will look to improve on a rookie season that included 18 starts, going 4-7 with a 5.80 ERA over 85⅓ innings.
To open the fourth inning, the Tigers put runners on when Javier Baez was hit by a pitch on his left elbow pad, and Jeimer Candelario singled up the middle, with Baez aggressively taking third with no throw. Both scored on the Cabrera home run.
The Tigers put two more baserunners on in the inning, but both were thrown out by Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka. Willi Castro, who had lined a single to right, was caught stealing at second base, and on the next pitch, Victor Reyes was picked off third.
Torkelson in his lone at-bat struck out on three pitches, watching a changeup for the final strike.
TIGERS NEWSLETTER: The Age of Spencer (Torkelson, that is) has arrived
JEFF SEIDEL: Tigers were right to push Spencer Torkelson to the majors. They should do it more
Rony Garcia allowed two runs in the eighth inning, walking one and allowing two hits.
The Tigers and Baltimore Orioles, scheduled to play Wednesday at Joker Marchant Stadium, canceled the final spring training game, citing a lack of available pitching for both teams.
The Tigers open the regular season Friday vs. the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.
Want more Tigers news? Download our free mobile app on iPhone or Android!
To access our most exclusive sports content, like the stories linked above, become a Free Press subscriber for $1.
Stay informed on what’s happening across Michigan: Subscribe to our news alert emails.