DETROIT >> He did it in perfectly Miguel Cabrera fashion.
Needing four hits to reach the 2,000-hit plateau in his career, Cabrera singled three times in Friday’s game, before reaching the milestone in style with a two-run home run in the eighth inning.
“I mean, it’s my first home run this year. I was thinking before the game if I was going to hit a home run this year,” Cabrera joked. “You gotta say it feels good.”
And also in completely Miguel Cabrera fashion, he didn’t want to say much else about the feat.
“I never expect I’m going to get 1,000 hits, let alone 2,000. I never expect something personal like that. I always want to go out there and find a way to help my teammates. To me, that’s the way I do it, the way I be,” he said.
“I don’t want to put extra pressure on 2,000 hits. That’s not the way to play the game. The way to play the game is to try to win games, try to do my job. Try to play 100 percent. …
“I’m worried about winning games. I’m not worried about that. I think after I finish my career, if God bless me, I got a lot of time to look back, time to see what I do. But right now, I gotta focus on what I do tomorrow, in this game. I don’t want to take this game to the game I gotta play tomorrow, so I’ve gotta focus. That’s they way I can stay focused.”
He is the ninth player to reach 2,000 hits before turning 31, joining Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron, Mel Ott, Alex Rodriguez and Robin Yount.
All but Rodriguez are in the Hall of Fame.
“That’s a milestone him, but I don’t think he’s going to stop anytime soon,” Ian Kinsler said. “My goal is to watch most of the balls go over the fence from the bases. I wanna be on the bases, and touch home plate when he hits them, try to set him up as good as possible.”
He’s the seventh-youngest player to get to the mark. He’s the 15th active player with 2,000 or more hits – including 38-year-old teammate Torii Hunter, who reached the milestone last season. Cabrera currently sits 277th on the all-time hit list.
“It’s amazing. What he’s been able to accomplish in a short period of time – he’s still young, and has got a lot of career ahead of him,” said Rajai Davis, who homered for his first hit as a Tiger on Friday. “I’m just taking notes. I’m sitting here taking notes every day, watching the king hit.”
Nick Castellanos got his first extra-base hit in the second inning and his first RBI.
“Well, I can always say to my kids, I got my first RBI on the day he got his 2,000th hit,” said the 22-year-old rookie, who has nine career hits. “It’s unbelievable. He’s 30 years old, and has 2,000 hits, and he has 10 years left. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch what he’s going to do.”
