Miguel Cabrera continued his march towards the Triple Crown on Tuesday night, getting two more hits as the Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals 4-2.
With only one game left on the season, Cabrera and manager Jim Leyland must decide whether to play the slugger on Wednesday, or sit and possibly clinch the Triple Crown.
"You know, he writes the lineup and I do what he wants," Cabrera said to the Associated Press. "I play ball. He's the manager, he's the boss. So whatever he wants to do, we're going to do. I play for the manager."
Cabrera's achievement would be the first Triple Crown since 1967 by Boston's Carl Yastrzemski and the first outright Triple Crown, meaning Cabrera is the sole leader in all three categories, since Frank Robinson in 1966. Cabrera currently leads the league in batting average, hitting .331, home runs (44) and RBIs (139).
"I've not made the decision, but I will. I'm going to think about it tonight. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do," Leyland said. "If he wants to play, then he'll play."
The Tigers fell behind early after Alcides Escobar's first inning home run, but quickly took back the lead in the second after Miguel Cabrera's bases loaded, two-run single.
Kansas City tied the game after an Escobar RBI single of Detroit starter Doug Fister and took back the lead after Detroit couldn't turn a double play, allowing Jarrod Dyson to score. Jeff Francouer added a home run in the eighth inning to push it to a 4-2 lead.
"It was actually a good game," Leyland said. "It was kind of fun."
Detroit has already earned the American League Central title and is locked in to their seed for the playoffs whether they win or lose the final game.
Cabrera had two hits in three at-bats and was replaced by Omar Infante in the fifth inning.
"I'm the manager and I make the decisions, and you do a lot of things on instincts," Leyland said. "I said, 'You know what? Three at-bats is enough.' "
Josh Hamilton still has a chance to tie Cabrera in home runs, and Joe Mauer and Mike Trout will both have to play stellar games on Wednesday to catch Cabrera. Trout sits second in batting average behind Cabrera with a .324 average.
"It'll be real interesting to see what will happen," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I give him a little credit. He was playing today after clinching the championship."
Fister was not at his best on Tuesday, giving up seven hits and three runs.
"I pitched to contact and I got the contact, just not the contact I wanted," Fister said. "I have some things to work out in the bullpen in the next few days."
Max Scherzer was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but hurt his ankle on Monday during Detroit's celebration for clinching the division.
Detroit will start the postseason on Saturday and will have to wait for Wednesday night's results to see who they will be matched up against.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
