Tigers score six runs in three innings to beat Yankees.
By Ray Bennett
Monday February 28, 2011
After all that happened to Miguel Cabrera in the past twelve days, he finally came back to work to do his job.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera took the field for the first time in spring training on Monday, going 0-2 with a walk in three at-bats in a 6-2 Tigers win over the New York Yankees. This was Cabrera's first on-field appearance since his February 16th arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. Cabrera started the game as the designated hitter. The game was played at the Tigers spring training facility in Lakeland, FL.
Cabrera grounded out in his first two at-bats of the game and walked in his third and final plate appearance. Cabrera arrived at camp early last week days after his DUI arrest. He talked to the press a few days later, telling reporters that he apologized to the team and his fellow teammates over the entire ordeal. Cabrera has sought counseling since the arrest. The DUI arrest stemmed from Cabrera falling asleep in a parked smoking car on the side of the road. The police report stated that Cabrera took a swig of scotch while talking to the Broward County, FL police officer. Cabrera verbally resisted arrest and refused to take a blood-alcohol test at the scene. Cabrera is scheduled to be arranged on the DUI charge March 16.
The Feb. 16th arrest was not the first time that the All-Star first baseman went to jail with alcohol in his system. On the final weekend amidst of a pennant race for the American League Central Division in 2009, Detroit police were called to Cabrera's house during a domestic dispute and had a blood-alcohol content twice the legal limit of the state of Michigan. He was sent to Wayne County Prison afterward and was picked up by Tigers general manager and president Dave Dumbroski.
Cabrera is coming off a career season in which he hit a career-high 38 home runs and finished second in AL MVP voting behind Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, a recovering drug user and recovering alcoholic. Last year Cabrera told reporters that after the domestic incident he had quit drinking, saying that he "was not that person anymore." A year later, over a week after his latest arrest, Cabrera told reporters that he had his drinking problem under control. Major League Baseball has not commented about his DUI bust and no punishment has been handed out by either the league or the Tigers.
The Grapefruit League game was also a showcase of what both teams will look like before they play each other on Opening Day March 31. Yankees starter C.C Sabathia and Tigers starter Justin Verlander each pitched the first two innings of the game, both giving up two hits each. Sabathia and Verlander are scheduled to start for their respective teams on the March 31 game at Yankee Stadium. Rick Porcello came in for Verlander in the third and also pitched two innings, leading all who pitched in the game with three strikeouts. This game also marked the first time in over four years once heavilly touted flamethrower Mark Prior appeared for a Major League team. Prior, who signed with New York to a minor league contract this past off-season, pitched one scoreless inning with a strikeout.
The first runs of the game were not scored until the top of the fifth inning when the Yankees put two runners across home plate off of Tigers minor league rookie Charlie Furbrush. Detroit evened the score back up in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting two runs off of Yankees reliever Daniel Turpin. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Tigers minor league shortstop Cale Iorg hit a solo home run off of Robert Fish, giving Detroit a 3-2 lead. They added another run later in the inning via an RBI double from right fielder Andy Dirks, who went 2-2 on the day. The Tigers added two more runs in the eighth as they coasted to victory in the top of the ninth.
Both teams meet each other again when spring training ends on March 29 at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL. Two days later, the Tigers and Yankees will meet up for their first series of the regular season at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City, NY. That game will be nationally televised on ESPN at 1 P.M. Eastren time.
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