Austin Meadows hit a two-run double after being intentionally walked by Miguel Cabrera, who was stuck on 2,999 hits. (0:30)
After a controversial free pass, the pursuit of baseball history will last at least one more day.
The New York Yankees intentionally walked Detroit's Triple Crown winner in the eighth to keep him from becoming the 33rd player in major league history with 3,000 hits.
It was the fourth and final plate appearance of the day for Cabrera, who struck out in each of his next two at-bats.
The Yankees decided to walk the two-time Most Valuable Player with two outs in the eighth, setting up a lefty-lefty battle between Detroit's AustinMeadows and New York's Lucas Lue.
Boone defended the decision as a baseball call for him, but acknowledged it was a little more gut-wrenching than usual.
After the game, he told reporters that he missed three chances at the 3,000-hit milestone, but that he was not upset.
The crowd at the park booed and chanted "Yankees suck" as he took his free pass to first. The boos were quickly turned to cheers when Meadows hit a two-run double.
I felt like the left-on- left situation was the best for me, and it came down to a baseball call for me there. It was a tough call, but one I had to make.
The 236th intentional walk of Cabrera, while strategically sound, triggered perhaps the loudest boos ever heard at a Tigers game.
When the game ended, the crowd of 21,529 was told that he was okay with how things went by putting his hands in the air. He gestured to the board with three fingers to show the runs his team had scored.
We need to win first, and I know history is important, according to MLB.com. It is not about me. It is about the team.
The next chance for 3,000 hits will be Friday, when the Tigers open a three-game home series against the Colorado Rockies.
He is trying to become the seventh player in MLB history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. He would become the first Venezuela-born and seventh Latino to reach the 3,000-hit mark, a list that includes Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Rod Carew, as well as Rafael Palmeiro.
Marly Rivera and The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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