Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki got his 3,000th professional hit between the major leagues and Japan with a first-inning single. Suzuki went 2-for-5 to raise his average to .298.
Suzuki hit a soft liner to left-center on the game’s first pitch from Luis Mendoza and added an RBI single sixth.
Ichiro has 1,723 hits in 1,224 games during his eight seasons with the Mariners and had 1,278 hits over 951 games in nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Japan’s Pacific League.
Speaking through an interpreter, Suzuzki said after the game that he disputes those who downplay his milestone because more than 1,200 of his hits came in Japan.
“If you look at it, my pace of getting hits in the United States is actually quicker than in Japan,” Suzuki said. “So I guess if people want to say those kinds of things, one thing I’d like for them to look at is that statistic.”