"The problem that drove Miguel Cabrera from Tuesday night's All-Star Game involves a part of the body that sometimes can keep hitters from playing for weeks:

The oblique muscle.

"The trainer came and told me that Cabrera said he felt something in his side," American League manager Ron Washington said. "The trainer said it's just a slight strain of the right oblique."

The Tigers and Cabrera must hope it is indeed slight and that Cabrera's initial analysis – he said he felt "fine" – holds true.

Washington said he didn't get a chance to talk to Cabrera after he felt the discomfort on a checked-swing in the sixth inning.

As of late Tuesday night, there's no way to tell if Cabrera will be able to play Friday, when the Tigers host Chicago in their first game after the All-Star break.

Oblique muscles are attached to the rib cage and thus are vital to players in their swings.

How badly can an oblique injury mess up a player and a team? Check out Evan Longoria and Tampa Bay.

Longoria, the Rays' best player, strained an oblique on his left side in the second game of this season.

He didn't play again for a month.

Without Longoria, the Rays immediately plunged into a team-wide batting funk. They came out of it before his return, by which time they'd gotten two games over .500. "