A milestone is a milestone, and Javier Báez reached one on Wednesday at Comerica Park.
In the bottom of the third inning, Báez stepped up to the plate for the Detroit Tigers with a runner on second and a 3-2 lead over the Kansas City Royals. With two strikes, Brady Singer threw him a breaking ball on the outside corner, and he reached and slapped it to left center for a base hit, scoring Kerry Carpenter and giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
It was Báez’s 1,000th career hit and conveniently drove in a run, as well.
Báez is by nature a streaky hitter, but that has been especially true this year. Fortunately for the Tigers, he is in the midst of a hot streak right now, hitting .300 with two home runs over the last 12 games entering Wednesday.
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For the season, he is hitting .234 with 64 strikeouts and 11 walks, as well as five home runs.
Báez, 30, is in the second year of a six-year, $140 million contract he signed before the start of the 2022 season, though the contract has an opt-out clause for the final two years.
The majority of Báez’s 1,000 career hits came when he was with the Chicago Cubs, where he was a part of the 2016 World Series-winning team. Baez has 196 hits with the Tigers and had 50 with the New York Mets, with the rest coming with the Cubs.