Cabrera Leads the Tigers Past the Astros in Dramatic Fashion

Miguel Cabrera plays Superman in leading his Detroit Tigers past the Houston Astros.

The 30-year-old Venezuelan ballplayer hit two home runs, finished 4-for-4, and tied a career high with six RBIs to help lead the Tigers’ to a 17-2 mauling of the Astros on Saturday night.

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera drove in six runs for the fifth time in his career. The last time was against Oakland on September 18, 2012. Cabrera has 10 hits in his last 20 at-bats over his past five games.

“I was feeling good out there today,” said Cabrera. “I was swinging the bat good, and when you swing the bat good, good things happen.”

Meanwhile, Torii Hunter had four hits and drove in two runs as every Tigers starter had a hit. Victor Martinez drove in four and had a two-run homer in the ninth. The 17 runs are the most scored by the Tigers since Sept. 4, 2011, when they had 18 against the White Sox.

“He’s awful good; that’s in the books,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said of Cabrera. “Obviously, he’s a special player, but a lot of guys did well tonight. … We had a lot of guys that did some good things tonight. It’s one of those where you play a game every now and then where you hit it hard it falls in, you hit it soft it falls in. It’s one of those games.”

Sánchez Reaches $80 Million, Five-Year Deal with the Detroit Tigers

Aníbal Sánchez is the Motor City’s $80 million dollar man…

The 28-year-old Venezuelan free-agent right-hander has reached an agreement with the Detroit Tigers on a five-year, $80 million deal, agent Gene Mato confirmed to ESPN.com Friday.

Anibal Sanchez

Sánchez is 48-51 with a 3.75 career ERA for the Tigers and Miami Marlins. He has been regarded by many observers as the second-most attractive starting pitcher on this winter’s free-agent market, behind Zack Greinke.

Sánchez reportedly had reached agreement on a five-year, $75 million contract Thursday with the Chicago Cubs, but the deal apparently went south and he elected to return to Detroit.

Sánchez impressed the Tigers with his performance after coming to Detroit with second baseman Omar Infante in a July deadline trade with the Marlins. He went 4-6 with a 3.74 ERA in 12 regular-season starts for manager Jim Leyland, and recorded a 1.77 ERA while going 1-2 in three postseason outings.

He will join Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister at the top of Detroit’s 2013 rotation.