Detroit Tigers

Cabrera leaves Friday's game with calf strain, will undergo MRI

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

DETROIT -- The Tigers won the game Friday but suffered what could turn out to be a big loss.

Miguel Cabrera could be looking at a stint on the disabled list.

In the bottom of the fourth, Cabrera had to leave the game after injuring his left calf running to second base on Victor Martinez's foul ball.

Cabrera never made it to second, pulling up lame as he was about halfway there.

"I was concerned," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "When Miggy says he can't play, it's serious, because Miggy plays through anything."

Said Nick Castellanos: "As soon as he asked for the trainer to come out, that's not a very good sign. This is a guy who played through a sports hernia and played through a cracked foot. For him to ask for help to walk off the field is no good."

The Tigers announced that Cabrera has a left calf strain and underwent an MRI.

"We're really pending another doctor's opinion, before we really pinpoint exactly what it is," Ausmus said. "It's the calf, not the Achilles, at this point."

Ausmus said Cabrera would definitely miss Saturday's game at the very least.

"I'm not optimistic he's going to avoid the DL at this point," Ausmus said. "But we'll know more (Saturday), for sure."

Andrew Romine ran for Cabrera and eventually scored on Nick Castellanos' RBI single.

Cabrera, who was 2-for-2 before coming out, is batting .350 with 15 home runs and 54 RBI this season.

"Miggy is a big piece of the lineup," Anibal Sanchez said. "Everybody knows that. He's one of the great hitters, great players in baseball. Any situation that happens to him is big for our team."

The Tigers had just changed the lineup, putting Ian Kinsler at leadoff, moving Yoenis Cespedes up to second from fifth, bumping J.D. Martinez back up to fifth and having Alex Avila, Nick Castellanos, Anthony Gose and Jose Iglesias fall in behind them.

Cabrera and Victor Martinez stayed in their spots, but now that has to change, at least for the short-term.

"It's big," J.D. Martinez said. "He's that anchor in our lineup. He's, in my eyes, the best hitter in baseball and any lineup that doesn't have the best hitter in it and you can have him in it, is going to hurt. So the sooner the better we can get him back."

Avila said the Tigers have been through this before and will have to adjust if Cabrera is out for an extended period.

"I remember stretches a few years ago where I think he sat for almost a week, week and a half straight, and we went like 8-2 or something like that without him," Avila said. "You just have to kind of pick it up by the bootstraps and find a way to do it."