Miguel Cabrera has made the point more than once this season that the Tigers are more than just Prince Fielder and him — it's a 25-man team.
On Friday night in Minnesota, the Tigers (21-24) pounded out 16 hits, one shy of their season high, in a 10-6 victory over the Twins (15-30).
"We broke out a little bit, big hits, two-out hits and some other big hits," manager Jim Leyland told FOX Sports Detroit's John Keating on the post-game show. "Nice to see the bats come to life a little bit."
If the Tigers are going to sustain it, it's going to take everyone chipping in and not just the big guys.
Cabrera and Fielder accounted for just four of the 16 hits and just two of the 10 RBIs.
One of the main reasons the Tigers reached the American League Championship Series last season was because players like Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta had career years.
Avila batted .295 and hit 19 home runs and drove in 82 runs. Peralta batted .299 and hit 21 home runs and drove in 86 runs.
Until he got hurt, Brennan Boesch batted .283 and hit 16 home runs and drove in 54 runs.
It was Boesch who kickstarted the Tigers' offense Friday with an RBI double in the second. Avila followed with a two-RBI double that gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Avila had another RBI double to score Boesch in the fourth. Boesch added an RBI single in the seventh.
Avila finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Boesch was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
"It's a tough game," Avila told Keating on the field after the game. "You just gotta keep plugging away. I've driven in quite a few runs. A little slow start compared to last year but that's the way the game is."
Twelve of Avila's 20 RBIs have come since May 4.
Also chipping in with RBIs were rookie Quintin Berry, Delmon Young and Ryan Raburn.
"I think a lot of different players contributed and that feels good in the clubhouse when a bunch of guys came through," Boesch said. "Ten runs is a great night for the offense.
"We're too good to stay down for too long, I think this team's going to start playing better. Tonight's just kind of the night we expect to have more often than not."
Peralta and Raburn have not yet hit their stride. Peralta is batting just .239 and Raburn, a notorious second-half player, is hitting .148.
Despite their hot nights, Avila is hitting only .234 and Boesch just .259.
But if at least three of those four can get more consistent at the plate, the Tigers' offense will be a lot better.
It will take the pressure off of Cabrera and Fielder and then both of them will get more pitches to hit if there's other players in the lineup who are capable of doing some damage.
Leyland sounded a properly cautious note after the game.
"We just gotta sustain it a little bit, we gotta get going," Leyland said. "I don't want to put the cart before the horse because we did that a couple times this year and then we went back in a little funk so let's just try to sustain it a little bit and we'll talk more about it."
The Tigers are not going to get 10 runs and 16 hits every night, but if they can stay away from the rut of scoring one, two or three runs a game, they'll move up in the standings.
If not, then Friday night's game will just be a fluke.
