PITTSBURGH (AP) — Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Grossman each had four hits, and the Detroit Tigers avoided a sweep by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 Wednesday night.
Cabrera was 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. He doubled off the Clemente Wall in right field to score Grossman in the first, singled home Akil Baddoo in the third and bounced one up the middle in the fifth to bring in Jonathan Schoop.
Grossman was 4 for 5 and scored three runs. He singled in his first three at-bats and hit a solo home run just inside the right field foul pole in the seventh.
The 38-year-old Cabrera has 2,971 hits in his career. The four-hit game was his first since April 26, 2019.
“He amazes me every single day,” Grossman said. “Other guys on other teams talk about how great he is. It’s an honor to play with someone that’s that well regarded. … I joked with him earlier, ‘Do you have your Hall of Fame speech ready?’”
Jeimer Candelario added an RBI single in the fifth.
Drew Hutchison (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Detroit, his first win in the majors since Aug. 17, 2018. The Detroit bullpen pitched six scoreless after giving up six runs in the first two games of the series.
“Hutch’ coming in and doing a nice job and getting his six outs … we needed everybody to do their part to get us out of here with a win,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller (4-11) yielded four runs and 10 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six.
Detroit starter Mike Manning left the game on the final play of the third inning. He was struck on the knee by Colin Moran’s hard-hit line drive. Tigers catcher Dustin Garneau corralled the ball and threw out Moran.
Manning stayed down for a moment before limping to the clubhouse with a left knee contusion. X-rays on his leg were negative for a fracture and he is considered day to day, Hinch said. In his three innings, he allowed one run on four hits and struck out four.
Ben Gamel doubled in the second and scored on Kevin Newman’s single for Pittsburgh. Gamel finished the series 5 for 11.
PUT AWAY THE BROOMS
The Pirates have not swept a series all season and are 0-12 when attempting to secure a sweep.
“It just hasn’t worked out,” catcher Jacob Stallings said. “I think more of what is frustrating is our overall win-loss record. I think when you have a bad record, it’s hard to sweep teams.”
The 50-90 Pirates are in last place in the NL Central and have the third-worst record in the majors.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: C Jake Rogers had Tommy John surgery in Dallas on Wednesday, Hinch said. Rogers will miss the rest of 2021 and most of the 2022 season.
Pirates: RHP JT Brubaker has a right shoulder impingement and will be shut down for another five to seven days. … INF Michael Chavis (right elbow strain) has started hitting but is not yet cleared to throw. He has been out since Aug. 29.
UP NEXT
Tigers: LHP Matthew Boyd (3-8, 3.89 ERA) starts Friday in Detroit against Tampa Bay. Seven of the Tigers’ next nine games are against the first-place Rays.
Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (0-3, 5.61) starts a home series with Washington on Friday. Brault has allowed 12 runs in his last two starts after giving up four over his previous four.
