The Tigers sent the minimum 12 men to the plate over the first four innings and entered the fifth trailing 5-0 before their bats came alive.
Cabrera, who put the Tigers on the board with a solo shot to left to open the fifth, reached 100 RBIs for the sixth straight season.
Curtis Granderson added three RBI on three hits, one of them a triple, and scored twice. Placido Polanco drove in two, while Gerald Laird went 3-for-5 and scored three runs for the Tigers. Magglio Ordonez, Clete Thomas and Adam Everett each had an RBI.
The win enabled the Tigers to cling to a two-game lead in the AL Central over Minnesota, which has won 11 of 12.
For the Sox, Alex Rios hit a solo home run to left in the second, and Carlos Quentin smacked a three-run homer to left in the fourth. Gordon Beckham also drove in a run.
Winning pitcher Alfredo Figaro (2-1) hurled 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Loser Freddy Garcia (2-4), who started strong with four scoreless innings, then got shellacked and left in the sixth after giving up seven runs on 10 hits.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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