Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera celebrates after recording his 3,000th career hit on Saturday in Detroit. Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera needed only one at-bat on Saturday to deliver his long-awaited 3,000th career hit, quickly reaching the mark as the Detroit Tigers routed the Colorado Rockies 13-0 in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Cabrera became the 33rd player in major league history and first Venezuelan-born player to achieve the feat when he grounded a first-inning single into right field. The hit came against fellow Venezuelan Antonio Senzatela and set off rousing cheers and chants at Comerica Park.
“I’m happy I hit it here. I’m happy for the people of Detroit to see it. Hopefully I can get more hits here,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera added a bases-loaded, two-run single in the sixth, then was pulled for a pinch-runner and drew another huge ovation as he trotted off with 3,001 hits.
The 39-year-old Cabrera became just the seventh player with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. He joined an exclusive club with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.
He’s the seventh Latino player reach the 3,000 mark. Pujols was the previous player to reach the mark, doing it in 2018.
Cabrera is the third player to get his 3,000th hit in a Tigers uniform, joining Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.
After getting his 2,999th career hit on Wednesday, he went 0 for 3 on Thursday. The Rockies-Tigers game scheduled for Friday night was rained out, putting history on hold for another day.
Cabrera fouled off the first pitch he saw and took a ball from Antonio Senzatela before his milestone swing.
He raised his right arm while heading to first base as right fielder Randal Grichuk retrieved the ball. The Comerica Park crowd of 37,566 roared and Rockies shortstop José Iglesias, who played with Cabrera on the Tigers, raced over to give his former teammate a big hug.
Cabrera kept moving up the chart with a bloop single in the first inning of the nightcap, which the Rockies won, 3-2.
YANKEES 6, GUARDIANS 5: Yankees fans in the right-field bleachers pelted Cleveland outfielders with bottles, cans and debris in a chaotic scene moments after Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pinch-hitter Gleyber Torres got RBI hits with two outs in the ninth inning to lift New York over the Guardians.
Rather than a celebration, Aaron Judge and other Yankees players rushed toward the wall in right-center field, trying to calm the crowd as security personnel joined the effort.
Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase (0-2) was one strike away from preserving a 5-4 lead when Kiner-Falefa hit a 100 mph fastball for a tying double. Rookie left fielder Steven Kwan ran hard into the wall chasing the ball and was shaken up, and trainer came out to check him.
Before play resumed, Cleveland right fielder Oscar Mercado pointed at the stands and center fielder Myles Straw climbed the chain-link fence in left to confront face-to-face at least one fan, while another fan nearby made a derogatory gesture.
Torres followed by lining a single to right-center for the game-winner. As Mercado and Straw chased the ball in the gap, several fans began throwing objects at them.
Yankees players ran to the spot to quell the disturbance.
ASTROS 3, BLUE JAYS 2: George Springer hit a leadoff homer in the first game against his former team, and Santiago Espinal homered for the second straight game to lift Toronto to a win in Houston.
The Astros lost their fourth in a row.
The game was tied at 2 with one out in the seventh inning when Espinal, who hit his first homer this season in a win Friday night, connected off Blake Taylor (0-1).
The Blue Jays lead the majors with 20 home runs after clubbing four in the first two games of this series.
Alek Manoah (3-0) allowed seven hits and two runs while fanning five in six innings.
RANGERS 2, ATHLETICS 0: Brad Miller hit a key single in the eighth inning that drove in two runs after a replay review initiated by the umpires, and Texas won in Oakland, California.
The winning rally started when Adolis Garcia and Willie Calhoun chased Frankie Montas (2-2) with consecutive one-out singles. After Domingo Acevedo retired pinch-hitter Jonah Heim on a groundout, Miller lined a 1-1 pitch to left.
Garcia scored easily but pinch-runner Eli White was thrown out at home by a strong throw from left fielder Tony Kemp.
TWINS 9, WHITE SOX 2: Byron Buxton and Luis Arraez each had four hits, helping Dylan Bundy and Minnesota beat banged-up Chicago in Minneapolis
Buxton hit a solo homer in the fourth inning and scored three times. Arraez drove in three runs, and Ryan Jeffers hit his first home run of the season for Minnesota, which has won three in a row.
Bundy (3-0) continued his surprising start to the season. He permitted four hits in five scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.59 this season, the third-best mark in the majors.
The White Sox lost their sixth straight game, and this one was particularly costly. Outfielder Eloy Jiménez was carted off with a hamstring injury after trying to beat out a ground ball in the second.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 5, NATIONALS 2: Alex Wood pitched five effective innings and San Francisco’s bullpen closed it out, leading the Giants to a victory in Washington.
Wilmer Flores and Joc Pederson each had two hits for San Francisco, which won for the third time in four games. It beat Washington 7-1 in the series opener Friday night.
Wood (2-0) allowed two runs and four hits. The left-hander struck out five and walked one.
CUBS 21, PIRATES 0: Alfonso Rivas had three hits and five RBI, and Chicago stopped a four-game slide by pounding Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.
Rivas, who was recalled Friday from Triple-A Iowa, capped Chicago’s eight-run second with a three-run homer. He tacked on RBI singles in the fourth and fifth.
The Cubs finished with 23 hits in their most lopsided shutout win dating to at least 1901. Nico Hoerner collected a career-high four hits, and Seiya Suzuki, Willson Contreras and Ian Happ had three hits apiece.
BREWERS 5, PHILLIES 3: Willy Adames stole home, Hunter Renfroe homered and Adrian Houser tossed six solid innings to lead Milwaukee to a win in Philadelphia.
The Brewers bullpen kept the game in check for Houser – Trevor Gott struck out two in a scoreless seventh, Devin Williams got Bryce Harper to hit into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, and Josh Hader earned his seventh save.
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (0-3) had another unimpressive outing as he works his way back from right shoulder soreness. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award runner-up, Wheeler, who had retired 10 straight, allowed four runs in the fifth and lost his third straight start. Wheeler, who gave up seven runs over three innings in his previous start against Miami, threw 84 pitches and struck out five in five innings.
CARDINALS 5, REDS 0: Dakota Hudson pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs with a sixth-inning double, and St. Louis beat host Cincinnati, the 11th straight loss for the injury-plagued Reds.
Hudson (1-1) entered the game with a 7.71 ERA, but had little trouble with Cincinnati’s hitters, limiting them to two hits while striking out four and walking four. He left with two outs in the seventh after walking Kyle Farmer with his 92nd pitch. St. Louis relievers Andre Pallante and Kodi Whitley finished the shutout.
The Reds have lost 11 straight for the first time since 2016. After splitting their opening four-game series with the world champion Braves, the Reds have been swept by the Guardians, Dodgers and Padres and have lost the first two games of the series with the Cardinals.
NOTES
ORIOLES: Left-hander John Means needs Tommy John surgery, ending the season for Baltimore’s Opening Day starter.
Means announced the news on social media Saturday, a day before his 29th birthday.
“After multiple MRI’s it’s confirmed that I need Tommy John surgery,” Means posted on Twitter. “I’m obviously disappointed, but more motivated than ever. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to watching what this team can do this year.”
An All-Star in 2019, Means was 0-0 in two starts this season, giving up three runs in eight innings.
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