Triple Crown Watch: Miguel Cabrera Takes AL Home Run Lead

Oct 1, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) hits a home run in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

There are lots of reason to celebrate in Detroit right now when it comes to Tigers baseball. The club, of course, clinched their second consecutive AL Central division title on Monday night, but Miguel Cabrera had a monster night in the process which may have also clinched him a Triple Crown.

He entered the night with a commanding lead in the RBI column, a close lead in batting average, and tied with Josh Hamilton for the home run lead, but his 4-5 performance, including a home run, gave him a lead that he may not relinquish. Here’s how the races stand:

Batting Average

Miguel Cabrera – .329

Mike Trout – .325

Joe Mauer – .322

Home Runs

Miguel Cabrera – 44

Josh Hamilton – 43

Edwin Encarnacion – 42

Runs Batted In

Miguel Cabrera – 137

Josh Hamilton – 127

Edwin Encarnacion – 110

Josh Willingham – 110

Nothing is decided yet, but it would take something big for Cabrera to not win the Triple Crown at this point. With three games left, Josh Hamilton would need two home runs and eleven RBI to pass Cabrera. Hamilton has the ability to go nuts like that, but the chances are quite low that it actually happens.

The batting title race might be a different story, however. If Cabrera were to go 0-4 in each of the next two games, he would end up with a .325 batting average. Mike Trout exited the night in second place with a .325 average, so the race could end up quite tight if Miguel somehow fails to tack on a few extra hits. Of course, it’s possible that he takes one of the next two days off to rest up for the playoffs. If that were to happen, it would make it awfully hard for either Trout or Joe Mauer to catch him.