(Sports Network) - The Detroit Tigers celebrated a division title on Monday.
They may get a chance to enjoy a bit of history on Wednesday evening in their
regular-season finale with the Kansas City Royals.
Detroit's Miguel Cabrera comes into the final contest of this three-game set
leading the American League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in.
Should that hold, he would become the first Triple Crown winner in baseball
since Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967. He hit
.326 with 44 homers and 121 RBI that season and won his first and only AL MVP.
Cabrera is hitting .331 with 44 homers and 139 RBI. He leads the Texas
Rangers' Josh Hamilton by one home run and 11 RBI and the Rangers play earlier
in the day on Wednesday. That could lead to Cabrera sitting out this finale if
he has the Triple Crown locked up.
The Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout is second in the AL in batting at .324 and
would need a monster game on Wednesday evening to challenge Cabrera in that
category.
Cabrera went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Kansas
City Royals.
"He (Tigers manager Jim Leyland) writes the lineup. I do what he wants,"
Cabrera said about possibly sitting out the team's season finale on Wednesday.
"He's the boss, so whatever he wants to do is what I'm going to do."
Cabrera, a lifetime .335 hitter versus Kansas City, is 4-for-11 in his career
with a homer and three RBI versus Royals starter Luis Mendoza, who gets the
call in this finale looking to hurl Kansas City to just its third victory in
11 games.
The right-handed Mendoza did not factor into a 5-4 loss to the Tigers last
Thursday, charged with four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and a walk
while striking out six. He was coming off a solid win over the Cleveland
Indians and hasn't lost since Aug. 22.
Mendoza, 28, is 8-9 with a 4.36 earned run average in 29 games this season,
including 24 starts, and is 1-1 lifetime versus Detroit with a 7.57 ERA in
nine games (4 starts).
Max Scherzer was slated to start tonight for the Tigers despite a right
shoulder injury that has held him off the mound since Sept. 23, but he
suffered an injury to his ankle on Monday on the field while celebrating the
division title.
"This is a slightly twisted ankle, swollen," manager Jim Leyland told
Detroit's official website. "It doesn't appear to be serious, but it is
obviously serious enough that he won't pitch (Wednesday). That's the only
thing I can tell you."
Going in his place will be 26-year-old righty Luis Marte in what will be his
first career start.
Marte has a 3.32 ERA without a decision in 12 relief outings this season. In
his two appearances during September, he allowed one hit and fanned three in 1
2/3 innings.
Marte has yielded one run in 2 1/3 frames of work lifetime versus the Royals.
Detroit is 12-5 versus the Royals this season, but has split the eight
meetings in Kansas City.
The Sports Network