CLEVELAND _ While the White Sox head to Minneapolis for a three-game series this weekend, left fielder Melky Cabrera will take a three-day detour to Chicago to witness the birth of his fourth child.
Before he took his first MLB paternity leave, Cabrera stood in the middle of the visitors' clubhouse at Progressive Field and said he wanted to win one for his new daughter.
It was almost that easy.
Tim Anderson hit Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin's first pitch Thursday out to left field for his first homer of the season, and the Sox led by six runs by the end of the second inning en route to a 10-4 victory over the Indians.
Every Sox player in the starting lineup recorded a hit, including Cabrera, who was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored before departing on his journey.
"I am a little nervous right now because this is going to be the first time I'm going to be there watching the whole process," Cabrera said before the game through a team interpreter. "I'm going to be anxious and nervous at the same time.
"I will be happier if we win today because I want to dedicate this game to my new daughter."
Anderson's second career leadoff homer was the first of six hits in the first inning.
Matt Davidson hit an opposite-field, three-run homer, and Omar Narvaez added an RBI single in the first. Avisail Garcia knocked a two-run single to center field with two out in the second to drive Tomlin from the game with the Sox leading 7-1.
Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez walked two and gave up a double to Michael Brantley to load the bases in the bottom of the first. The Indians scored on Jose Ramirez's sacrifice fly to right field.
Brantley homered in the fifth off Gonzalez, and Lonnie Chisenhall hit an RBI double to right field to cut the Sox lead to 7-3. Sox manager Rick Renteria pulled Gonzalez after he gave up his fourth hit of the inning.
The Sox tacked on three runs in the eighth off Indians relievers Zach McAllister and Dan Otero, and the Indians went to infielder Michael Martinez to pitch in the ninth. He gave up a double to Leury Garcia but recorded three groundouts.
Cabrera is expected to return for the Yankees series in New York on Monday.
It will be just the latest absence by a Sox starter after catcher Geovany Soto went on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation and Todd Frazier was sidelined for a second straight game with the flu.
But they are expected to call up hot-hitting Triple-A Charlotte outfielder Willy Garcia to fill Cabrera's roster spot for the weekend. Garcia's agent tweeted the news he was being called up Thursday morning.
Cabrera leaves hitting .258, and Renteria said that while the team will miss him, they're happy he can be with his family.
"Melky, for me, is one of the premier hitters in baseball and a pretty good defender also," Renteria said. "It's his high-end coordination, his pitch recognition, his zone coverage, any number of things if you look at them from that perspective. He's got a pretty good eye and he's very confident in his ability to hit in any count, any situation, and he can play to the situations also."
