Cabrera intentionally walked with 2,999 hits as Tigers blank Yankees

DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked in the eighth inning with 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 Thursday.

Cabrera was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, forcing him and Detroit 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 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 “it's a baseball call all the way."

“Obviously, understanding the moment in time,” he said. “A little more gut-wrenching than usual.”

The 236th intentional walk of Cabrera's career, while strategically sound, triggered perhaps the loudest boos ever heard at a Tigers game since Comerica Park opened in 2000.

Boone said he the crowd reaction wasn't a surprise.

“Of course, certainly understand that,” he said, adding, “you don't necessarily like being in that position."

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 to the scoreboard to indicate the runs his