(BALTIMORE) — Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera moved one step closer to a major milestone on Wednesday night, bashing the 499th home run of his big league career.
Cabrera launched the homer off of Baltimore Orioles starter Matt Harvey, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead on Wednesday. Detroit would go on to win the game 5-2.
With just 12 home runs this season, Cabrera’s run to 500 had slowed considerably. He hadn’t hit a home run in over a week.
While there was some expectation that Cabrera would sit out Thursday’s game, the team’s last on their current road trip, so that he could attempt to reach the mark at home, the team says it has decided against that.
“He’s playing,” manager A.J. Hinch said Wednesday night before being asked. “I’ve talked to him, and we’re not going to test baseball fate. We really want him to hit it whenever he’s supposed to hit it. Maybe it’s [Thursday], maybe it’s not.”
Cabrera would become the 28th player in major league history to reach 500 home runs, and the first from his native country of Venezuela.
A two-time MVP and 11-time All-Star, Cabrera’s production has dipped in recent years. Still, he continues to chase multiple milestones. In addition to 500 home runs, Cabrera is also just 50 hits away from 3,000 for his career.
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