Tigers pound White Sox: Cabrera reaches 1,000 hits

[June 03, 2017]  DETROIT -- Miguel Cabrera has reached another milepost on a baseball journey that seems destined to lead him to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Cabrera drove in four runs Friday night on his way to becoming just the 39th player in major league history to amass 1,000 extra base hits while Mikie Mahtook, J.D. Martinez and John Hicks hit home runs to power the Detroit Tigers to a 15-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Cabrera entered the game hitting .260 with five home runs and 22 RBIs in two months' worth of games, substandard by his norms.

"Right now, I don't think there's anything wrong with Miggy," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said pregame. "I feel like we've talked about Miggy in this vein every year I've been here. And every year he seems to end up hitting."

The slugging first baseman, 34, misjudged his own speed, however, as he ran threw a stop sign thrown up by third base coach Dave Clark and was thrown out at home plate trying to score on a hit for the second time in less than two weeks.

Three other active players have 1,000 or more extra base hits -- Carlos Beltran, Adrian Beltre and Albert Pujols. Cabrera has 532 doubles and 451 home runs plus 17 triples for his total of 1,000.

Michael Fulmer (6-3) survived a wobbly three-run fifth as he broke a two-game slide in which Detroit was shut out in both starts. Fulmer allowed seven hits, one walk and struck out five in seven innings. Arcenio Leon worked the eighth and Blaine Hardy the ninth for the Tigers.

"His stuff was a good as we've seen all year," Ausmus said of Fulmer. "Statistically, this outing was probably one of his weakest. But his stuff was as good as I've seen it all year."

Leury Garcia touched Fulmer for an RBI single in the third, by which time Detroit had scored five times, and another while Chicago was scoring its three runs on three hits in the fifth. Tim Anderson had an RBI single and Melky Cabrera a sacrifice fly in the inning, which began with the Tigers holding a 10-1 lead.

Garcia drove in a third run when he grounded out to first in the seventh with runners on first and third for the White Sox, making it 14-5.

"He's been really tough on us actually," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said of Fulmer. "Even at (Chicago), he was able to go almost nine and we didn't do very much. Then we were able to get him a little late.

"He's got some good stuff. His ball had a lot of action, a lot of life."

Cabrera had an RBI double off Derek Holland (4-5) in the first, scoring on a J.D. Martinez double, and a two-run double that capped a three-run second. Mahtook hit his third home run, a solo shot, with one out in the inning, and had an RBI double in the eighth.

Miguel Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly to right while the Tigers scored five runs in the third. J.D. Martinez hit his ninth home run leading off, Hicks hit a two-run blast down the left field line two batters later, his third home run, and Dixon Machado had an RBI triple.

Martinez fell a single short of the cycle after leading off the sixth with a triple off the wall in extreme right field.

Machado had a two-run double in sixth after Justin Upton ripped an RBI double down the left-field line. Nick Castellanos had an RBI double in the fifth for Detroit.

Holland allowed eight runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. He gave up three home runs and three doubles.

"One of his truly rare (bad) outings," Renteria said. "It happens every now and then. It was just one of those days.

"It seemed like everything he threw up there, they were able to put a good swing on. He wasn't able to stop it. Just one of those days for him. I look at it as an anomaly."

NOTES: Chicago RHP Jake Petricka, out of action since April 5 with a right lat strain, was scheduled to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Charlotte. He'll be followed Saturday by RHP James Shields, out since April 21 with the same ailment. ... Detroit RHP Armando Gallaraga retired the first 26 batters he faced on June 2, 2010, only to see first-base umpire Jim Joyce muff the call on the potential 27th out. ... The Tigers have the edge over the White Sox in every series at Comerica Park since 2010. ... First-base umpire C.B. Bucknor suffered an apparent leg injury in the bottom of the second inning and was out of the game about 10 minutes before returning. Manny Gonzalez replaced him at first as part of a three-man crew until Bucknor was able to return. ... White Sox RHP Michael Ynoa faced two batters in the third inning but had to come out with a right quad strain. Detroit DH Victor Martinez departed with the flu after four innings

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