By John Lowe, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — The Tigers hit three homers on Saturday in their 8-0 win over the Twins. Based on its impact on the game, Miguel Cabrera’s homer was by far the least important of the three.
In the chase for history, Cabrera’s blow stood out.
His towering bases-empty drive in the fourth, which provided the 8-0 lead, was his 42nd of the season. It tied him with Texas’ Josh Hamilton for the AL lead.
Cabrera continues to lead the AL in average and RBI.
According to research by the Elias Sports Bureau and ESPN’s Jayson Stark, Cabrera is the first player since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to lead either major league in all three Triple Crown categories this late in the season.
And if Cabrera again brought Yaz and his ‘67 Triple Crown to mind, Doug Fister brought to mind the Red Sox’ long and lean mound master from ‘67, Jim Lonborg. The tall and elegant Fister threw a seven-hitter for his first career shutout.
Given the way Fister pitched, the Tigers owned the game from the moment that Austin Jackson hit Twins starter Sam Deduno’s first pitch of the first inning for a homer. Delmon Young made it a blowout with a three-run homer in a five-run third.
The White Sox have to win Sunday night to stay 1 ½ games ahead of the second-place Tigers. Otherwise, the Tigers would move within a half-game of the top with a chance to at least tie for the Central lead if they could sweep Sunday’s doubleheader from the Twins.
