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| In this Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, photo, Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera is seen during a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Detroit. Cabrera was taken to a police station over the weekend after getting into a fight with his wife at their suburban Detroit home when he came home drunk, authorities said Monday. |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Detroit star Miguel Cabrera apologized to his teammates for being drunk last weekend while the Tigers were trying to clinch the AL Central title, then delivered two big hits in Tuesday's tiebreaker against Minnesota.
The slumping Cabrera hit a double his first time up, then hit a two-run homer that put the Tigers ahead 3-0 in the third inning. The winner of the one-game playoff advances to play the New York Yankees in the first round Wednesday.
Before batting practice, Cabrera told reporters he was sorry for his actions and the stress he caused the organization. He insisted the alcohol consumption - between two games the Tigers lost - didn't negatively affect his performance.
"No, no, no. I was good. I was focused," Cabrera said.
Cabrera went 0 for 4 and stranded six runners in a 5-1 loss to Chicago on Saturday, a game that started about 12 hours after Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski picked him up at a police station following a fight with his wife - apparently over his late arrival from a night out.
Police said Cabrera's wife, Rosangel, called 911. Both of them had marks on their faces when officers arrived, but they were minor and no charges were filed. The 26-year-old Cabrera registered a 0.26 blood alcohol content, three times above Michigan's legal driving limit.
Cabrera, who's hitting .323 with 33 home runs and 101 RBIs this year, is in the second season of an eight-year, $152.3 million contract. He went 0 for 11 over the weekend while the Tigers lost two out of three games to the White Sox - and was hitless in his last 14 at-bats overall - letting the Twins catch them in the standings.
"I want to focus on the game right now," Cabrera said, sitting solemnly in front his cubicle in the visitor's locker room at the Metrodome on Tuesday afternoon. There was a bruise and a scratch still visible on his face, but they were faded.
Cabrera said he learned a lesson from the situation and insisted he was able to fully focus on baseball and not this off-the-field problem.
"This is a big game," Cabrera said. "Hopefully we play good."
Tigers manager Jim Leyland refused to take any questions about Cabrera's situation, accusing media of "going for the gossip" by talking to Cabrera before the game and missing the beginning of his briefing.
"If you want to talk about today's game, we'll talk about today's game," Leyland said. "If you're talking about anything else, I'm walking right through that door, and I'm leaving."
