Miggy makes it 10 straight years of 100 RBIs

CLEVELAND -- It took a little longer than expected thanks to an abdominal strain, but Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera reached the 100-RBI mark on Tuesday when he doubled in Torii Hunter as part of Detroit's five-run fifth inning. Even with all that time between RBIs, Cabrera managed to hit the century mark at a record pace for him, and a pretty good pace for the best in the game.

Cabrera had been stuck on 99 RBIs since July 27, when he drove in three runs against the Phillies. He didn't start in four consecutive games and eight out of 11, but he also had four games without an RBI (though one game was merely a pinch-hit appearance).

Cabrera reached the 100-RBI mark in his 103rd game of the season, and the team's 111th. Chris Davis, the American League's RBI leader with 106, reached the century mark in his 108th game, but the Orioles' 109th. So the issue of pace depends on whether the criteria is the number of games the hitter plays, the number of games his team has played or the date on the calendar.

Cabrera had 95 RBIs at the Tigers' 111-game mark last season. He had just 84 RBIs over his first 103 games of the season, though. There's a case to be made that the abdominal strain and hip flexor Cabrera has been battling for more than a month has derailed what had the makings of a record pace.

Cabrera also clinched his 10th consecutive 100 RBI season. He became just the fourth Major League player age 30 or younger with that many 100-RBI seasons. Albert Pujols and Jimmie Foxx put theirs up consecutively as well, while Alex Rodriguez had 10 in his first 11 seasons.

Cabrera, Pujols, Foxx and Rodriguez join Al Simmons and Lou Gehrig as the only Major Leaguers in history with 10 consecutive 100-RBI seasons. Foxx (1929-41), Gehrig (1926-38) and Rodriguez (1998-2010) share the record with 13. If Cabrera posts 100 RBIs next season as a Tiger, he'll tie Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann for the club record with seven in a row.

Cabrera is also the third player in Major League history to post 100 RBIs in 10 of his first 11 seasons, joining Pujols and Rodriguez.