CABRERA GOES WILD IN TIGERS ROUT OF TWINS

3-HR, 6-RBI Effort Keeps Detroit Tied for 1^st

DETROIT, Sept. 26 (AP) – Miguel Cabrera belted three home runs, part of a four-hit game, drove in six and scored four times, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 16-6 rout of the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park.  Overall, the Tigers banged out 20 safeties, the major league leading fourth time this year that the club has reached the 20-hit mark in a game.  Six different Tigers had at least two hits.  Ian Kinsler finished with three hits, including a double and a home run, drove in three and scored three times.

The win allowed Detroit to remain in a first place tie in the American League’s Central Division, with two games left in the regular season.  The Tigers are knotted with the Royals at 82-78 after Kansas City defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-4.  The two clubs are also one game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final AL wildcard spot.

Cabrera and the Tigers set the tone for the game in the bottom of the first inning.  After Kinsler was retired, Twins starter Anthony Swarzak walked Torii Hunter and then yielded a two-run homer into the left field bullpen to Cabrera.  A bases loaded walk to Andrew Romine later in the frame gave Detroit another run and a 3-0 lead before Swarzak was able to escape the inning. 

When Cabrera hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the second, the rout appeared to be fully on, but Minnesota got back in the game with three runs off Tigers starter Rick Porcello in the top of the third.  Aaron Hicks doubled with one out and, after Eduardo Escobar was retired, Danny Santana laced a two-bagger of his own, cutting the lead to 4-1.  Brian Dozier then belted a home run, cutting the deficit to a single run.

That was as close as the Twins would get, however.  In the bottom of the fourth, Hunter and Victor Martinez drove in runs, giving the Tigers a 6-3 lead, and in the sixth a two-run double off the bat of J.D. Martinez upped the Detroit advantage to five runs.

In the seventh, Kinsler made it 9-3 with an RBI double and, one out later, Cabrera launched a mammoth three-run shot, his third long ball of the game and 30^th of the season, far into the seats beyond the bullpen in left.

Kinsler’s two-run blast capped another four-run outburst in the eighth.  Dozier had belted his second homer of the game, a solo shot, in the top of the frame, and the Twins capped the scoring with a pair of consolation runs in the ninth to account for the 16-6 final score.

Cabrera was one of two big leaguers to belt three home runs on this day.  Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays also accomplished the feat, in a 9-4 victory over the Orioles in Toronto.  Only three players hit three home runs in a game through the first five months of the regular season, but five have accomplished the feat in September.

9/26/2014, Min14-Det14, Comerica Park

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

2014 Twins             0  0  3  0  0  0  0  1  2     6 10  1     4  0

2014 Tigers            3  1  0  2  0  2  4  4  x    16 20  1    10  1

Twins                AB  R  H BI   AVG    Tigers               AB  R  H BI   AVG

Santana,Da        ss  5  1  2  1  .249    Kinsler           2b  6  3  3  3  .314

Dozier            2b  4  2  2  3  .248    Hunter,Tor        rf  5  1  0  1  .258

Mauer             1b  3  0  1  0  .263    Cabrera,Mi        1b  6  4  4  6  .314

 Parmelee         ph  1  0  0  0  .223    Martinez,V        dh  4  2  3  1  .322

Vargas,K          dh  4  0  2  0  .285     Moya             pr  1  0  1  0  .333

Arcia             rf  4  1  1  0  .221    Martinez,J        lf  5  0  2  2  .353

Suzuki,K          c   4  1  0  0  .251     Perez,H          ss  1  0  0  0  .143

Herrmann          lf  4  0  1  1  .203    Castellanos       3b  4  1  2  0  .253

Hicks,A           cf  4  1  1  1  .232    Avila             c   4  2  1  0  .206

Escobar,Edu       3b  4  0  0  0  .289    Romine,An         ss  2  0  1  1  .271

                     37  6 10  6           Carrera          ph  2  1  1  0  .246

                                          Davis,R           cf  5  2  2  1  .287

                                                               45 16 20 15

Twins                            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Swarzak          L 3-8           3.0  7  6  6  3  1  65  40  4.47

Pressly                          2.0  2  0  0  0  1  36  22  2.67

Thompson,A                       1.0  3  3  3  1  0  27  12  6.48

Fien                             1.0  5  5  5  1  0  35  21  4.76

Duensing                         1.0  3  2  2  0  0  24  20  2.11

                                 8.0 20 16 16  5  2 187 115

Tigers                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Porcello         W 15-10         7.1  8  4  4  0  1  85  53  4.05

Ryan,K                           1.2  2  2  1  0  1  26  18  6.75

                                 9.0 10  6  5  0  2 111  71

Min: Parmelee batted for Mauer in the 8th

     Parmelee moved to 1b in the 8th

Det: Carrera batted for Romine,An in the 7th

     Moya ran for Martinez,V in the 7th

     Perez,H inserted at ss in the 8th

     Carrera moved to lf in the 8th

E-Escobar,Edu, Ryan,K. 2B-Santana,Da 2(26), Hicks,A(6), Kinsler(45),

Martinez,J 2(24), Davis,R(26). 3B-Romine,An(1). HR-Dozier 2(25), Kinsler(25),

Cabrera,Mi 3(30). RBI-Santana,Da(45), Dozier 3(82), Herrmann(8), Hicks,A(22),

Kinsler 3(100), Hunter,Tor(77), Cabrera,Mi 6(115), Martinez,V(101),

Martinez,J 2(84), Romine,An(25), Davis,R(52). SB-Cabrera,Mi(2), Davis,R(35).

K-Herrmann, Parmelee, Cabrera,Mi, Avila. BB-Hunter,Tor, Martinez,V,

Castellanos, Avila, Romine,An. PB-Suzuki,K.

GWRBI: Cabrera,Mi

Temperature: 71, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 7 MPH.

Attendance: 41,597

Game Time: 3:06