Miguel Cabrera hit his 499th career home run in the fifth inning of the Detroit Tigers' 5-2 win against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
Cabrera connected off Matt Harvey to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The homer drew some cheers from the crowd at Camden Yards, and Cabrera gave a little pump of his right fist when the ball cleared the wall in left-center field.
He also had two singles earlier in the game, plus a sacrifice fly in the sixth. He grounded out in the ninth in his final at-bat.
The Detroit slugger has 12 home runs this season. He hadn't gone deep since Aug. 3. The Tigers have one more game on this road trip, but Cabrera isn't in the lineup Thursday against the Orioles.
Before the lineup release, Tigers manager AJ Hinch had said Wednesday that Cabrera would keep playing, adding, "We really want him to hit it whenever he's supposed to hit it."
Hinch said Thursday that he had second thoughts, noting that the first two games of this series turned into long nights because of rain.
"Two rain-delay games in the excessive heat," Hinch said. "Obviously there's a component of hitting 500. I have no idea if it could happen today, but our fans, everybody back in Detroit, I want them to be a part of it. I can get caught up in wanting it to happen as soon as possible. I have no idea if it can happen over the homestand."
The Tigers are at home for six straight games after Thursday's contest.
"Everyone was hoping he can do it in Detroit, but we'll see what happens," teammate Jonathan Schoop said.
Cabrera, 38, is trying to become the 28th player in major league history -- and the first Venezuelan player -- to reach 500 homers. His production has fallen off considerably in recent seasons. He hasn't hit more than a dozen homers since 2017.
But Cabrera remains a star in Detroit as he chases this milestone and the 3,000-hit mark. He's up to 2,950 hits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.