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Cabrera, Tigers rout Orioles

Apr 5, 2014 - 12:04 AM Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Miguel Cabrera put the finishing touches on his four-hit game with his 2,000th career hit -- a two-run homer in the eighth inning that capped the Detroit Tigers' 10-4 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.

Cabrera's sublime efforts highlighted a 17-hit outburst by the Tigers, who won their first two games of the season in walk-off fashion and had their third postponed due to rain.

A delay in the series opener of this three-game series cut short Anibal Sanchez's outing with the reigning AL ERA champ yielding two runs on two hits and three walks. Drew Smyly (1-0) took over in the fifth and tossed three scoreless frames to earn the win.

Two of the three batters Miguel Gonzalez (0-1) pitched to following the delay -- Rajai Davis and Torii Hunter -- went deep, and Gonzalez exited having surrendered seven runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Chris Davis' two-run double into right-field corner in the first inning staked the Orioles to a lead, but the Tigers pushed three runs across in the second and four more in the fourth to take control.

The Orioles arrived in Detroit late Thursday night after losing two of three to Boston in their season-opening series in Baltimore.

"It kind of affected the team a little bit but this is baseball," said Orioles catcher Steve Clevenger, who had an RBI. "You have to come ready to play every day no matter what the circumstance is."

Nick Castellanos drove in his first big league run with an RBI double to get Detroit on the board, Ian Kinsler singled in a run and Rajai Davis scored on a wild pitch.

When play resumed after the 32-minute rain delay, Rajai Davis cranked one just over the left-field wall for a game-breaking homer. Hunter, hitless in his first nine at-bats, sent another into the seats in left two batters later.

Detroit's half of the sixth began with three consecutive singles, with Cabrera's base hit to left scoring Kinsler.

When Cabrera sent a Ryan Webb offering over the wall in left-center in the eighth, he became just the ninth player in MLB history to reach 2,000 hits before the age of 31. The two-time AL MVP turns 31 on April 18.

"Miggy's 30 years old and he's got 2,000 hits," said Hunter. "What you're seeing every day is nothing but history. And it's an honor to watch him play whether you're a player or a fan."

Clevenger tripled in a run and scored on Jonathan Schoop's single in the ninth to produce the final runs.

Game Notes

Hunter and Austin Jackson each had three hits for the Tigers ... Detroit's Victor Martinez recorded the fifth stolen base of his 12-year career in the fourth inning ... Sanchez was scheduled to start Thursday's series finale against the Royals, but the contest was washed out.