DETROID – Miguel Cabrera deliberately walked into the eighth inning of his career with a win to reach 3,000 runs, which sparked a huge flower at the Comerica Park, and the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 3-0 on Thursday.
Cabrera went 3-0 with two strikeouts, forcing him and the Detroit fans to wait at least a day to reach his 3,000th victory, reaching only 32 players in major league history.
With a 1-0 lead, the Tigers loaded the pitches without outs in the eighth inning against Miguel Castro. Reliever Lucas Luitz converted Jaymer Candelario into a double on a ground ball.
This took Cabrera two outs and runners-up in second and third. When Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced he was deliberately hiking for his former teammate Cabrera with the Miami Marlins, the 39-year-old Slurker batter did not even come out of the box.
“It’s a baseball decision,” Boone said.
“Apparently at the time, it was a little more controversial than usual.”
Cabrera’s 236th Career Walk deliberately, though guaranteed, sparked the worst uproar in the history of Comerica Park, which opened in 2000.
Boone said he was not surprised by the reaction of the fans.
“Of course, I definitely understand,” he said. “You don’t have to be comfortable in that position.”
After Austin Meadows scored a two-run double, the 21,529 attendees quickly applauded, highlighting Detroit by three points.
At the end of the innings, Cabrera stretched out his hands and told the fans that he was calm in the situation. He then raised three fingers and pointed to the board to mark the number of runs scored for his team.
“That’s the beauty of this game,” he said outside the dressing room at the end of the game.
Michael Pineda (1-0) allowed just three wins in five innings in his Tigers debut against one of his former teams. Jacob Barnes, Willie Perralda, Alex Lange and Gregory Choto added third saves.
The Yankees suffered their third shutout of the season and 39 touchdowns in 13 games is their lowest since 1972.
Jordan Montgomery (0-1) became the first Yankees opener to complete six innings this season. He allowed only one run and three wins with five strikeouts, but he received no help from his teammates.
For the Tigers, Venezuela’s Cabrera 3-0; Vigor Reyes scored a run to make it 3-1. Puerto Rican Wiley Castro 3-1. Dominican Jaime Candelario 4-0.
For the Yankees, Venezuela’s Kleber Torres 1-1; Marvin Gonzalez 2-0.