DETROIT — No, Miguel Cabrera did not get any closer to the 3,000-hit or 500-homer clubs. He did, however, get the Tigers a step closer to .500.
In the end, that team success is still more important to him than individual milestones.
While Cabrera gave the number-changers a day off for his home run (still at 497) and hit (still 2,942) counter on the left-field concourse, he gave Orioles pitchers fits in a 6-2 win at Comerica Park. The four-game series split puts the Tigers back to six games under .500 heading into a big week with six games against the Red Sox and Cleveland, the first teams with winning records to face the Tigers since July 4. Detroit went 13-11 in a four-week stretch against sub-.500 teams, missing some opportunities but capitalizing on others.
With the Red Sox coming to town, the Tigers will have to be productive in all phases of their game to continue their momentum from three consecutive winning months. A productive Cabrera, even a quiet one, is a big factor in that.
On a day when the Tigers didn’t do much against longtime farmhand Spenser Watkins, Cabrera had a pair of critical at-bats. His first-inning walk helped build a two-out rally that culminated in Eric Haase’s two-run double off the center-field wall. The three-run inning answered two RBI doubles from the O’s in the top half of the inning, allowing Detroit starter Tyler Alexander to take the mound for the second inning with a 3-2 lead.