Orlando Cabrera passed the 2,000-hit career mark recently but the Cleveland Indian infielder wouldn't mind adding significantly to that total before putting away his spikes.

He also wouldn't mind seeing the Indians stay in the thick of the American League Central Division title race for the rest of the season.

Cabrera had three hits in Cleveland's 6-4 win over the Detroit Tigers Wednesday night at Comerica Park. His third hit of the game, an RBI double in the top of the fifth, gave Cleveland a 5-4 lead.

It turned out to be the only win in a three-game series for Detroit. A big four-run fourth inning turned the fortunes around for an Indian team that entered Wednesday's game having lost 10 of 12.

"We have not been playing our game," he said. "One of big plays is when Asdrubal (Cabrera) advanced with the ball in the dirt. We got pumped up in dugout. We did it earlier in the season. We really got the momentum right there and put a couple of hits together and scored those runs. The bullpen has been terrific the whole year."

The Tigers knocked the Indians out of first place by winning two games in a three-game series that ended Thursday.

"It's good for us to do it right now, especially against Detroit," Cabrera said. "It's going to be a really, really interesting season. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a battle. Hopefully, we'll have more games like (Wednesday's)."

Cabrera was asked if the Indians had the potential to take it to the wire.

"I hope so," he said. "There's a lot of games left. I don't think we can say the Central is going to be Detroit or the White Sox or Cleveland. It's going to be interesting for the rest of the season."

Cabrera notched his 2,000th career hit recently. In Detroit Tuesday night in the eighth inning, he smacked a single against Justin Verlander, who had been working on a no-hitter. He's reached at least 490 at-bats in 10 of the last 12 seasons.

"The main thing on him has been his durability," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. "Every year he has 500 at bats or more. He's been able to keep himself on the field. Probably last year was the only time where he's been any significant amount of time on the DL. Back in the days when we were on Montreal, he plays every single game. He's very smart, very savvy, very aggressive at the plate. If he stays healthy and plays every day as he has, he has a chance to keep doing what he's done."

The near 500 at bats is a figure Cabrera doesn't mind seeing on his seasonal stat sheet.

"That's what I'm looking for every year," he said. "I spend a lot of time away from my family. It means a lot for me to be reliable or my manager and coaches and team to get up there every day and help my team win ballgames."

The Indians have been in first place for most of the season and it would disappoint Cabrera if the Tribe isn't somewhere in the vicinity of first place when September arrives.

"I don't see any other way. If you're not in first place or battling to get there, it's a long season," he said.

The 36-year-old Cabrera was rested in Thursday's game against Detroit. In 15 seasons, which has included stops also at Montreal, the Los Angeles Angels, the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati, he has a career batting mark of .273.

He's now batting .251 with two homers and 30 RBIs, plus 24 runs scored this season.

"He's a veteran player and he's smart," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland. "We made a couple of bad pitches on him and he looks for stuff like that."

Cabrera, in the win over Detroit, "was huge for us, especially that double that put us ahead," Acta said.

It was especially huge for the offense to produce six runs, Cabrera noted.

"That's huge for us. We've been letting our pitchers down a lot," he said. "They've been throwing the ball well. To bounce back against a team like Detroit, which is going to be there, is huge."

 

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