“It was a good slide,” Cabrera said.
Of Cabrera's 488 career home runs, this one was certainly unique. His first-inning drive through the flakes was the first homer of the 2021 Major
Cabrera also added a sparkling play at first base in his first time playing the field since 2019, and
The Tigers welcomed their fans back to
The temperature at game time was 32 degrees.
“It was almost kind of laughable for everybody that we were playing baseball in an environment like that," Hinch said. “It would come and go, then it got kind of warm when the sun came out. It's always fun on opening day to take those mental snapshots and enjoy the moment."
Although the weather eventually cleared up, the ballpark looked like a snow globe at times early on.
“The home run, I never even saw the ball," said Francona, Cleveland's manager.
Cabrera's two-run shot barely cleared the wall, and the home run was upheld after a review, giving
Bieber (0-1) allowed another run in the second. He pitched fine after that and ended up with 12 strikeouts in six innings. The Cleveland right-hander said afterward he was kind of excited for the challenge the conditions presented.
“I’ve done a little bit of sleet in the minor leagues," Bieber said. "That was like nice, high-quality snow, to be honest.”
The 37-year-old Cabrera could reach both 500 homers and 3,000 hits this season. His production has fallen off in recent years, but his home run was a nice moment for the small number of fans who were able to attend this opener — and he looked downright spry when he made a diving backhanded stop on
Boyd allowed three hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Bieber yielded five hits and three walks while posting a big strikeout number on opening day for a second straight season. He struck out 14 in the opener last year.
The Tigers are allowing
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers:
DEFENSIVE GEM
Cabrera's diving stop in the fourth may have ultimately saved the game. Cleveland had men on first and second with one out.
“Saved a run,” Hinch said. “A groundball that gets through, all of a sudden the runner's going to go second to home.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Tigers designated OF
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