Tigers’ Cabrera declines comment about cut on face

DETROIT (AP)—Miguel Cabrera(notes) just wanted to concentrate on the final scheduled game of the season. A bruise and cut on his left cheek made that difficult.

“I’m focused on one thing—the game,” Cabrera said when asked about the facial injuries Sunday morning.

Cabrera then went 0 for 3 in Detroit’s 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. The Minnesota Twins later beat Kansas City, forcing an AL Central tiebreaker on Tuesday.

Between playing Friday and Saturday nights against Chicago, Cabrera’s face took the brunt of something.

“I have had a conversation with Miguel,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski wrote in an e-mail. “It is a personal situation and I am not at liberty to discuss it further.”

Tigers manager Jim Leyland didn’t want to talk about it and refused to acknowledge the situation was unfortunate.

“Do you want to talk about today’s game?” Leyland asked tersely. “I manage the team on the field. That’s my job—to get this team ready to play today.

“If you want to talk about the game, we’ll talk about the game. If you don’t want to, you can excuse yourself.”

The Tigers had a seven-game lead less than a month ago and have been in first place since May 10.

Cabrera ranks among AL leaders in several offensive categories, but was 5 for 26 during the final homestand. He was hitless in four-at bats—with a total of six runners on base each—in Saturday’s loss 5-1 loss to Chicago that dropped the Tigers into a tie.

Cabrera is in the second season of an eight-year, $152.3 million contract he signed after Detroit acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins during the 2007 winter meetings.