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On Friday night in Atlanta, Tigers cloutsman Miguel Cabrera was very central to his team's win ...

Yep, two home runs in the course of his team's 6-2 victory. His first homer of the night also occasioned a bit of franchise history ...

You know you're doing well when you pass Hank Greenberg on any Tigers list.

In any event, the win was a big one for the Tigers. Couple it with the Blue Jays' loss, and the Tigers are now a half-game back of Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the AL and even with them in the loss column. That means, if they keep winning, they keep playing (that potential Monday makeup against the Indians just became a bit more likely).

One bit of specific good news for the Tigers insofar as the road ahead is concerned is that their man in the middle of the lineup is very much in vintage form right now. Consider these digits ...

So I think we can agree those are useful results when pushing for a postseason berth. Before his current magma-hot streak began, Cabrera was batting .306/.386/.540, so it's not as though he was struggling or anything. Friday night's performance, though, pushed his 2016 slash line to .315/.393/.566 with 38 bombs. That's pretty much right in line with his career numbers, so on balance you're seeing vintage Miggy this season, even after you adjust for current league conditions.

From the Tigers' standpoint, this is obviously desirable. When you're talking about a sturdily built 33-year-old who plays a non-premium position, you worry about a decline phase setting in at any moment. Cabrera, though, is one of the all-time greats with a bat in his hand, and when we're talking about future first-ballot Hall of Famers there's nothing tidy or linear about decline. In fact, Cabrera has shown almost no signs of it since getting clear of the nagging injuries that affected him in 2014.

Even though Cabrera is at an age at which he should no longer be one of baseball's best hitters, he is, well, one of baseball's best hitters. We were acutely reminded of that on Friday night, as the Tigers took another step toward the postseason. If they get there, who knows what Miggy's got planned.