*Photo from the Detroit Free Press*
The Detroit Tigers did avoid a sweep, but the big story was the talents of Miguel Cabrera. Sure, he's not the power hitter he once was, but he's an important part of the Tigers. Cabrera had a 4 hit game, Robbie Grossman homered and had 4 hits, and the Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Wednesday night.
The 4 hit game was the first 4 hit game Cabrera has had since 2018. 3 of his 4 hits drove in runs, and 3 of his hits came off the bat at harder than 100 mph. Dating back to his previous game, Cabrera has a hit in 7 straight at bats, the first time he's done that in his career. He has 2,971 career hits, with 21 games left this season. He's pretty close to 3,000, and it seems like a lock he'll get it, regardless of if it's this season or next.
Grossman said of Cabrera that "He amazes me every single day. Other guys on other teams talk about how great he is. It’s an honor to play with someone that’s that well regarded. I joked with him earlier, ‘Do you have your Hall of Fame speech ready?'"
In the first inning, a double to right field off the bat of Cabrera scored Grossman and put the Tigers ahead 1-0 early on. In the second inning, Kevin Newman tied the game for the Pirates with an RBI single to left field, which plated Ben Gamel. In the 3rd, Cabrera collected his second RBI of the night when Akil Baddoo scored on an RBI single, putting Detroit ahead 2-1.
In the 5th, with the Tigers still holding a 2-1 lead, Jonathan Schoop crossed home plate on another Cabrera hit, and it was then 3-1 Tigers. Grossman then came in to score on an RBI single from Jeimer Candelario, the only Tiger not named Cabrera or Grossman to drive in a run. In the 7th, Grossman added a solo home run to right field, making it a 5-1 ballgame.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton spoke about Cabrera after the game, saying that "I marvel at him a lot. I think I've said it numerous times in the last three days, he's the best right-handed hitter I've ever seen. We didn't make bad pitches to him. I think he hit everything. He hit the fastball up, he hit a fastball in, he hit a curveball 0-0 and he hit a cutter for four hits. That shows why he's such a good hitter."
Drew Hutchison picked up the win in relief, improving to 1-1 this season with two shutout innings, allowing just one baserunner. Starter Matt Manning lasted just 3 innings, allowing one run on 4 hits, walking no one and striking out 4 hitters. Derek Holland picked up a hold with a scoreless 6th inning. Jose Urena, Michael Fulmer, and Gregory Soto also pitched.
Mitch Keller struggled for the Pirates, dropping to a 4-11 record this season, allowing 4 runs on 10 hits and one walk, punching out 6 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Cody Ponce was responsible for the Grossman homer in the 7th, throwing an otherwise sharp outing. Anthony Banda and Luis Oviedo also pitched for the Pirates.
Shelton said of the loss that "We've been in the learning process of what we're doing and because of the fact that we're able to give multiple people different opportunities in different roles. It's just going to continue to learn, just continuing to gain information on how our guys are developing."
After a day off on Thursday, the Tigers welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to town on Friday night, with Matthew Boyd starting the series opener. The Pirates start a series with the Washington Nationals on Friday, with Steven Brault getting the start for Pittsburgh.
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