DETROIT — As the Astros cruised to a 17-4 win over the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, two living legends — MVP winners, longtime teammates, extremely likely Hall of Famers and perhaps the best hitter and pitcher of their generation — faced each other for the final time.
In what was almost certainly the last matchup between Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, Verlander gritted through five scoreless innings, while Cabrera battled but couldn’t nick Verlander for a hit.
In the second, Verlander struck Cabrera out looking on a curve. In the third, Cabrera fouled off four pitches before grounding into a forceout. In the fifth, with two outs and Cabrera due up next, Verlander instead got the out he needed, ending his outing with Cabrera in the on-deck circle.
In the eighth, long after Verlander had departed, Cabrera slugged a three-run homer, No. 510 of his career.
It was a matchup of a kind that’s not often seen. Teammates with the Tigers from 2008-17, Verlander brought his 253 wins, three Cy Young Awards, pitching Triple Crown and MVP Award to the mound against Cabrera’s 509 home runs, 3,150 hits, two MVPs, offensive Triple Crown and .307 career batting average. The pair has a combined age of 80 years and 319 days, and a combined bWAR of 147.5. Together, they’ve played 39 seasons and made 21 All-Star Games.
As the all-timers squared off, meanwhile, the Astros took the series behind home runs from Kyle Tucker, Mauricio Dubón, Martín Maldonado and Yainer Diaz.
