CHICAGO -- What looked like an innocently goofy piece of baserunning from Jose Cabrera turned out to be a scary moment that knocked the Tigers' star out of Thursday's 9-7, 10-inning win over the White Sox. But Cabrera, who bruised his left hip flexor after tumbling around first base on a first-inning single, said he hopes to be ready when the series continues on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"I'm feeling better right now," Cabrera said. "I jammed my hip a little bit with the ground. I felt it getting tight when I played defense [the next half-inning], so I decided to talk to the trainer and go out of the game because I don't want to lose any games."
Cabrera was thinking about going for second on his hit to left-center, but he seemingly lost his footing when he crossed first base. He took a few more steps before falling chest-first between first and second.
Cabrera picked himself up and scrambled back to first base but was noticeably limping, drawing manager Ron Gardenhire and head athletic trainer Doug Teter out of the dugout. Cabrera stayed in the game but was moving cautiously, stopping at second base when Nicholas Castellanos lined James Shields' next pitch into left.
Castellanos was halfway to second when he realized Cabrera had stopped, forcing him to scramble back to first.

Cabrera stayed in for the bottom of the first inning and was on deck when Leonys Martin was caught stealing to end the top of the second. Niko Goodrum, who began warming up earlier, replaced Cabrera for the bottom of the inning.
"He took the tumble and he's got a bruise," Gardenhire said. "He felt it was getting tight, so we just decided to get him out of there."
Goodrum played a Cabrera-like role late, hitting a two-out, two-run homer during a three-run ninth inning to extend the game. It was his first career long ball.

"I'm just always ready wherever they need me. That's my job," Goodrum said. "When I saw Miggy go down, I started getting up and getting ready. He ended up coming out, and I was ready to go in, but I'm just always trying to stay ready."
It marks the first injury concern of the season for Cabrera, who had been notably healthy following an injury-plagued 2017 campaign. Most of Cabrera's injury woes last year involved back tightness, which led him to change his offseason workouts. He reported to Spring Training noticeably lighter and was moving around much better, besides the rejuvenated swing.