Cabrera still on 2,999 hits after intentional walk
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 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 MLB 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, 39, to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. The 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.
Michael Pineda (1-0) gave up just three hits over five innings in his Detroit debut.
METS 6, GIANTS 2 >> Carlos Carrasco (1-0) pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in almost three years, leading host New York. Francisco Lindor, who had three hits, and Eduardo Escobar each connected for solo homers.
TWINS 1, ROYALS 0 >> Joe Ryan (2-1) pitched six innings of two-hit ball, Miguel Sano drove in the game’s only run and visiting Minnesota held on to avoid a series sweep.
BLUE JAYS 3, RED SOX 2 >> Kevin Gausman (1-1) took a shutout into the ninth, and Jordan Romano escaped with a save in Boston. Gausman struck out eight and walked none and was pulled after allowing Trevor Story’s single to lead off the ninth.
GUARDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 3 >> Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBIs, continuing his comeback from a devastating leg injury and helping the Guardians cap a series sweep in Cleveland.
ATHLETICS 6, ORIOLES 4 >> Sean Murphy hit a two-run homer and RBI double, and Cristian Pache also connected for the A’s in Oakland.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, NATIONALS 3 >> Mark Melancon retired Juan Soto with the bases loaded in the ninth, helping Cooper Hummel’s tiebreaking two-run home run hold up for visiting Arizona.
MARLINS 5, CARDINALS 0 >> Pablo López (2-0) pitched three-hit ball over seven innings for the Marlins in Miami. Jesús Sánchez and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered.
PIRATES 4, CUBS 2 >> Daniel Vogelbach hit a tworun homer and Yoshi Tsutsugo had a two-run double as Pittsburgh rallied in Chicago.