Miguel Cabrera honored pregame, then helps Tigers secure second in AL Central

Detroit — In terms of matching energy levels, the Tigers’ 8-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians Saturday was no match for the pregame Miguel Cabrera celebration.

Even if the win did secure the Tigers’ first second-place finish in the AL Central Division since 2016.  

A sellout crowd of 40,224 turned out to be part of Cabrera's farewell tribute and created a playoff-like atmosphere at Comerica Park, the likes of which hasn't been felt since 2014.

"The players were all talking about that energy in the dugout before the game," Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. "And all we kept reminding them of was, 'Just win. This is how it's going to be.' This town is going to respond to the right team at the right time when we need it the most. But we have to do our part.

"We're inching toward it but we haven't got there yet. But this is a preview for us and a preview for our fans. We need to earn it but this is what we want it to be."

The park was filled early and the energy was stoked by a megawatt intro by Tigers radio announcer Dan Dickerson, which drew standing ovations from the sold-out crowd for both Jim Leyland and Alan Trammell before he summoned Cabrera, who came up through the tunnel behind the plate slapping hands with fans.

“Do we all realize how fortunate we have been to have watched one of baseball’s all-time greats?” said Trammell, himself a Hall of Famer.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 8, Guardians 0

Teammates Eduardo Rodriguez (in Spanish) and Matthew Boyd also made speeches, which was all bracketed by poignant video presentations, including an introductory montage narrated by actor and longtime Tiger diehard J.K. Simmons.

“Never trying to do too much and still doing it all,” he said of Cabrera.

Cabrera’s family was seated in the front row, including his mother and father, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, with their son doing the catching.

"We've been celebrating Miggy for six months and it's been worth it and fun," Hinch said. "Tram was in the house. Jim was in the house. Lance (Parrish) and Willie (Horton). All that stuff is very meaningful to the Tigers, to our fans, to our players, to me and especially to Miggy."

Tigers president Scott Harris was also on the dais and helped present the gifts, which were incredible.

▶ A check for $24,000 for Cabrera’s foundation.

▶ A set of customized Michael Jordan cleats made by artist Marko Terzo made from some of the big-moment baseballs of Cabrera’s career (500th homer, 3,000th hit). The cleats were mounted on a bejeweled base and encased in glass.

▶ A statue/sculpture of Cabrera’s No. 24, positioned on top of the bricks in right-center field, made out of 3,000 baseballs. Five hundred of those baseballs are gold, signifying the 500 home runs. The piece was unveiled by Tigers legends Horton and Parrish.

"Just a privilege," second baseman Andy Ibanez said. "Thank God for giving us the opportunity to celebrate Miguel Cabrera and to enjoy this environment. All of this crowd was here to celebrate Miguel. It was pretty amazing."

Tough for a late September baseball game between two non-contending teams, even with second place in the Central Division at stake, to compete with that.

Cabrera, of course, did his part to keep the joint rocking.

He doubled to lead off the fourth inning. It was his third double and fourth hit in two games. But he wasn’t done. He tagged and went to third on a line drive to right field by Kerry Carpenter, beating the throw from Will Brennan, who might’ve been surprised to see Cabrera tag.

"None of that surprises me because it's smart baseball," Hinch said. "He knows the right play to make and it's just can his body get there and stay in one piece for 24 more hours."

It was a reminder of how Cabrera has played his entire career. It was a scoreless game. Getting to third with fewer than two outs was priority one.

"When he got to third, he looked in to see if we were going to run the contact play," Hinch said, referencing the play where Cabrera would go home on any ball put in play. "I knew he didn't mean it, but he's looking in. He wants to give me that, 'Why not?' Like, obvious reasons. But it energizes our entire dugout."

Turned out, he could trot home. Matt Vierling followed with a ringing triple to left-center.

Cabrera lofted a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning that extended the lead to 4-0.

"It looked and felt like Miggy had a good time all day and that was of No. 1 importance," Hinch said. "His parents threw bullets to home plate (laughs). We thought it was all natural talent for Miggy, and work ethic and time in the cage.

"Nope. Mom and Dad took care of the skill."

A fleet of Tigers relievers made the 1-0 lead hold up until the sixth, when Akil Baddoo brought the crowd to its feet, lacing a two-out, two-run triple into the corner in right field off reliever Eli Morgan.

The Tigers took advantage of three walks and a misplayed popup by reliever James Karinchak to blow the game open with five runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Ibanez and Carson Kelly delivered two-run singles off reliever Xzavion Curry, who was trying to clean up Karinchak’s mess.  

For five-plus innings, though, this one was tight.

Against a scheduled bullpen game, Cleveland manager Terry Francona stacked seven left-handed hitters (including two switch-hitters), figuring Hinch would use his right-handed relievers early. And he was right.

But Hinch navigated it with three right-handed pitchers who have good splits against left-handed hitters. Will Vest got through the first inning and then Miguel Diaz and Beau Brieske put up two zeros each through the fifth.

Both were able to neutralize the lefty swingers with hard four-seam fastballs (97 mph for Brieske) and elite change-ups.

Brieske walked a pair of hitters to start the sixth and with one out, Hinch went to lefty Tyler Holton, who worked two scoreless innings Friday night. He got through the sixth and the first out in the seventh before walking Myles Straw.

Hinch, with the game on the line, summoned Alex Lange much earlier than usual. Lange eventually got out of the inning — with big help from center fielder Parker Meadows. Meadows had raced back to the wall in center to haul in a drive by Brennan to start the inning.

Then, with runners at first and second, both running on a 3-2, two-out pitch, Meadows got a quick jump and ran down a liner in the right-center field gap hit by Jose Ramirez.   

The five-run outburst in the seventh quelled the drama.

"I feel good about how we're finishing," Hinch said. "We're playing hard, we're playing smart, we're making plays and we're finishing games. ... I love the way our players are responding to the importance of September. It gives me a lot of hope for when it really does matter in the standings.

"But we're never satisfied. I don't want to come across like, 'Look at us, we've accomplished something.' But I do think steps forward are being made in a lot of areas and that's encouraging."

The win puts the Tigers at 77-84, a game ahead of the Guardians and with the tie-breaker in their pocket. Finishing second, especially with a sub-.500 record, is a tough accomplishment to celebrate. But when you haven’t finished that high in seven years, it’s not nothing.

“I think it’s relevant this weekend,” Hinch said. “I don’t know what it really tells you other than it gives you something to play for and people recognize it — including our players, staff and organization. But this will be short-lived.

“You either make the playoffs or you don’t.”

Sunday will the 2,797th and final game of Cabrera's career. Where Saturday was pure celebration, Sunday might be a tad more somber. As this weekend has demonstrated, the big man is going to be missed.

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter/X: @cmccosky