Cabrera remains at 2,999 after intentional walk

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera was set to stroll to the plate and fans rose to their feet and roared, hoping to witness his 3,000th hit.

Instead, they saw his 236th career intentional walk.

A strategically sound move by Manager Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees. A very unpopular decision in Detroit.

The crowd, eager all afternoon to see the milestone, responded with perhaps the loudest boos ever heard at a Tigers game since Comerica Park opened in 2000 and shouted derisive chants at the Yankees.

Cabrera, though, insisted multiple times that he had no problem with Boone’s move because Detroit beat New York 3-0 Thursday.

“That’s the beautiful game of baseball,” Cabrera said outside the clubhouse soon after the game ended.

Cabrera was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, forcing him and Tigers fans to wait at least another day for him to hit the 3,000 mark, a milestone just 32 players have reached in Major League Baseball history.

Ahead 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 comebacker that was turned into a double play.

That brought Cabrera to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. The 39-year-old

slugger didn’t make even make it into the batter’s box because Boone held up four fingers to give Cabrera, a former Marlins teammate, a free pass to the unoccupied base.

The crowd of 21,529 quickly turned the jeers into cheers when Austin Meadows blooped a two-run double on a lefty vs. lefty matchup to put Detroit ahead by three.

When the inning ended, Cabrera put out his hands as if to tell that crowd he was OK with how things went. He then put up three fingers and gestured toward the scoreboard to indicate the runs his team had on a sunny, 60-degree day in the Motor City.

“They want to see 3,000, but we want to win first,” Cabrera said.

GUARDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 3 Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBI, continuing his comeback from a devastating leg injury and helping the Cleveland complete a three-game sweep of Chicago. BLUE JAYS 3, RED SOX 2 Kevin Gausman (1-1) took a shutout into the ninth inning, and Jordan Romano escaped with a save as Toronto beat Boston. TWINS 1, ROYALS 0 Joe Ryan (2-1) pitched six innings of two-hit ball against Kansas City’s revamped lineup and Minnesota avoided a sweep.

ATHLETICS 6, ORIOLES 4 Sean Murphy hit a two-run home run and RBI double, Cristian Pache also connected and Oakland beat Baltimore. Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde and designated hitter Trey Mancini were ejected in the fourth after Mancini was called out on an odd play. Mancini was tagged after running through first base and walking back to the bag.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MARLINS 5, CARDINALS 0 Pablo Lopez pitched three-hit ball over seven dominant innings and Miami beat St. Louis. Jesus Sanchez and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered for the Marlins, who snapped an eight-game losing skid against St. Louis. The Cardinals swept two series last season and won the first two games in Miami.

PIRATES 4, CUBS 3 Daniel Vogelbach hit a two-run home run and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo also drove in two runs as Pittsburgh defeated Chicago.

METS 6, GIANTS 2 Carlos Carrasco (1-0) pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in almost three years, leading New York past San Francisco. DIAMONDBACKS 4, NATIONALS 3 Arizona closer Mark Melancon retired Juan Soto with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, helping Cooper Hummel’s tiebreaking two-run home run hold up in the Diamondbacks’ win over Washington.

Cabrera