Miguel Cabrera on 3,000 hits: 'Just don't try to put pressure on myself and go from there'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miguel Cabrera makes hitting look so easy

Like Thursday night, when the 38-year-old — turning 39 Monday — went 3-for-4 in the Detroit Tigers' 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Cabrera has 2,994 hits over his 20-year MLB career, six shy of becoming the 33rd MLB player to reach 3,000 hits.

"If we want to be good this year, we got to win within our division," Cabrera said Thursday. "We got to play good baseball and try to play over .500 to give us a chance to make the playoffs."

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Royals starter Zack Greinke fed Cabrera back-to-back 89 mph sinkers in the same location in the second inning; the two-time MVP fouled off the first pitch, then punched the second to left for his first single.

In the fourth, Cabrera passed on Greinke's first-pitch 84 mph slider in the dirt. He then adjusted to an inside 71 mph curveball, putting the ball into left for his second single.

"I got a really good idea of what he's going to do to me," Cabrera said. He has faced Greinke, a 19-year MLB vet, 42 times, beginning in 2007, and owns a .300 batting average against him.

Cabrera recorded his third hit in the sixth, this time against right-handed reliever Collin Snider. Again, the at-bat lasted two pitches. He swung and missed at a perfectly executed down-and-away 85 mph slider. The next pitch, a 94 mph sinker near the outside edge of the strike zone, turned into an opposite-field single.

"The three hits is awesome," Tigers starter Casey Mize said. "He's getting closer, so I'm looking forward to whenever 3,000 comes."

Cabrera has 16 career games with at least three hits against the Royals — more than any active player. In 109 games at Kauffman Stadium, he boasts a .320 average (134 hits) with 23 doubles, 19 home runs and 90 RBIs.

"I feel like in this stadium you can get a lot of hits because it's really big," Cabrera said. "You don't get a lot of home runs, but I like to put the ball in play and see what happens."