Miggy ends home run drought, flirts with cycle
CHICAGO -- Miguel Cabrera ended the longest home run drought of his career in Friday night's 12-11 loss to the White Sox with a trademark opposite-field shot over the right-field fence off lefty Carlos Rodon for his first homer of the season.
Cabrera hadn’t homered in a regular-season game since last April 28 off the Orioles' Andrew Cashner. Cabrera went homerless over his next 58 plate appearances before sustaining a season-ending left biceps tear last June. Though he homered three times during Spring Training and had hit some drives to various outfield fences since the regular season began, he was homerless for his first 103 plate appearances this season before Friday.
After Nicholas Castellanos put the Tigers on the board with a solo homer, Cabrera followed and finally found some good fortune upon connecting with a Rodon fastball. His resulting jack had a 96.6 mph exit velocity with a 31-degree launch angle, according to Statcast, allowing it to clear the fence near the right-field corner.
The 161 plate appearances between home runs marked the longest drought of Cabrera’s career. His 466th career homer moved him out of a tie with Dave Winfield for 35th place on the MLB all-time list, two behind Hall of Famer Chipper Jones.
Cabrera finished with his first four-hit game since April 25, 2018, and he logged run-scoring hits in his first three at-bats -- including an RBI single in the second and an RBI double in the fourth.