Miguel Cabrera intentionally walked in the eighth inning on 2,999 career hits, setting off a loud chorus of boos and derisive chants at Comerica Park as the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 3-0 on Thursday. .
Cabrera went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, forcing him and Detroit fans to wait at least another day for him to reach the 3,000 mark, a milestone only 32 players have reached in baseball history. Big leagues.
Leading 1-0, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Miguel Castro. Reliever Lucas Luetge got Jeimer Candelario to hit a comeback that turned into a double play.
That led Cabrera to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. The 39-year-old slugger didn’t even make it into the batter’s box when New York manager Aaron Boone held up four fingers to give Cabrera, a former Marlins teammate, a free pass to the unoccupied base.
Boone said that "it’s a baseball decision all the way".
"Obviously, understanding the moment in time"said. "A little more heartbreaking than usual".
Cabrera’s 236th career intentional walk, while strategically sound, triggered perhaps the loudest boos ever heard in a Tigers game since Comerica Park opened in 2000.
Boone said the crowd’s reaction was not a surprise.
"Of course I certainly understand that"he said, adding, "I don’t necessarily like being in that position".
The crowd of 21,529 quickly turned boos into applause as Austin Meadows hit a two-run double in a lefty-lefty matchup to put Detroit ahead by three.
As the inning ended, Cabrera held out his hands as if to tell the crowd that he was fine with how things went. He then held up three fingers and gestured toward the scoreboard to indicate the runs his team had scored on a sunny, 60-degree day in the Motor City.
"That’s the beautiful game of baseball"Cabrera said outside the clubhouse as the game ended.
Michael Pineda (1-0) allowed just three hits in five innings in his Detroit debut against one of his former teams. Jacob Barnes, Wily Peralta, Alex Lange and Gregory Soto, who earned his third save, followed with four scoreless innings.
The Yankees were shut out for the third time this season and their 39 runs are the fewest in 13 games since 1972.
Jordan Montgomery (0-1) became the first Yankee to complete six innings this year. He allowed just one run on three hits and struck out five, but his teammates didn’t provide any help offensively.
Robbie Grossman hit an RBI double in the third, scoring Victor Reyes.
New York was limited to four hits in seven innings against three pitchers before Boone put a pair of pinch hitters into the game in hopes of providing an offensive spark.
Josh Donaldson doubled on Lange’s first pitch of the eighth, Gleyber Torres singled on the fourth pitch of the inning and Aaron Judge walked with one out to end the right-hander’s brief appearance. Soto got the Tigers out of a jam with the bases loaded and one out by having Anthony Rizzo hit the pitcher, leading to a force out at home, and Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to first.