Ichiro gets 2,500th hit of stellar MLB career

PHOENIX — Ichiro Suzuki wasted little time reaching another milestone after a rare day off.

Milestone man: Ichiro Suzuki singles in the first inning to collect the 2,500th hit of his major league career against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday in Phoenix. KYODO

Ichiro led off the game with his 2,500th career hit and finished 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored and the Seattle Mariners outlasted the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-9 in 10 innings on Tuesday night.

"If you look at me now and if you look at me when I first got here in 2001, if I said my first day that my goal is to hit 2,500, on that day people would say that I was crazy," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "Now looking at (it), things do come true."

Between his nine seasons in the Pacific League and his 12-plus seasons in Seattle, Ichiro has 3,781 hits, the third most among professional players in either country, trailing only Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,191).

"I was there when (former All-Star Roberto) Alomar got his 2,500th hit, and I remember thinking at the time that it was an astronomical figure," Ichiro said. "So to have come this far means something to me."

The milestone came the night after Seattle manager Eric Wedge had given Ichiro his second day off of the season.

"Yesterday was tough for me," Ichiro said. "It was very regrettable because you want to go out there and perform but I understand the skipper's situation. It depends from here on how I will be given the day off."

Wedge had no doubts spending a night in the dugout helped his right fielder.

"You saw the way he swung the bat today," Wedge said. "From his first swing in his first at-bat when he fouled that pitch back, that got my attention right away. Then he dropped a couple in there and hit a couple hard.

"It is something that he has to understand that it's not a bad thing if you get a day off now and then. I know what he is conditioned for and that he wants to play every day but what we are looking for is getting the most out of everybody over 162 games."

Ichiro capped the Mariners' three-run 10th inning when he used his classic inside-out swing to slice a double just inside the left-field line that easily scored Casper Wells and put Seattle in front 12-9.

Wells had hit a pinch-hit, two-run single off sidewinding right-hander Brad Ziegler to give the Mariners an 11-9 lead.

J.J. Putz (1-4) walked Justin Smoak leading off the 10th, Dustin Ackley looped a single to center, moving pinch runner Munenori Kawasaki to second and Brendan Ryan advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt before Wells came to the plate.

"I was kind of picking up where he released from, which basically was the dirt," Wells said. "I was looking for a pitch that I could handle and hit it hard. You have to have your focus."

Smoak, Ryan and Kyle Seager homered for the Mariners, who have won three of their past four.

Aaron Hill, Gerardo Parra and Paul Goldschmidt homered for Arizona, which saw its six-game home winning streak snapped.

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