Rafael Palmeiro became the 26th player in major league history, and the third Latin player, to join the 3,000-hit club Friday night with a fifth-inning double against the Mariners.
Palmeiro, the Baltimore Orioles' 40-year-old designated hitter and first baseman, has also collected 566 home runs for ninth on the career list. Only three other players have compiled at least 500 home runs and 3,000 hits: the Hall of Famers Hank Aaron (755 homers and 3,771 hits), Willie Mays (660 and 3,283) and Eddie Murray (504 and 3,255).
Palmeiro came to the US from Cuba in 1971 and reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1986. He joins Rod Carew (Panama) and his boyhood idol, Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico), as the only Latin players to reach 3,000 hits.
When asked before the game how it felt to be considered in such elite company, Palmeiro showed his usual modesty.
"You're talking about the greatest players of all time," Palmeiro said. "I'm not so sure my name should be mentioned with those guys."
The crowd of more than 39,000 gave Palmeiro a standing ovation, and he acknowledged fans with a helmet-tipping tribute.
In his first at-bat, Palmeiro walked in the first inning and the fans booed the Mariners' pitcher, Joel Pineiro. In the seventh, Palmeiro singled to pass Clemente, who finished with 3,000 hits.
"I'm in awe of this feat," said Sam Perlozzo, the Orioles' bench coach. "Beyond the 3,000 hits, to be in the class with only three other guys, Mays, Aaron and Murray, I don't know if people are appreciating that as much as they should."
Palmeiro was joined in Seattle by his wife, Lynne; two sons, Patrick, 15, and Preston, 10; and his brother Rick. His sons were in the Orioles' dugout for the milestone.
Over the years, Seattle has been one of Palmeiro's favorite hitting targets. He entered the game with a .288 (225 of 782) career average and 51 home runs against the Mariners.
"So you could say he's pretty happy to be here," the Mariners' closer Eddie Guardado said before the game.
"He's a class act, man. You like to see good guys do things like that."
Other milestones are in reach. Carew leads Latin players with 3,053 career hits, and Palmeiro is approaching 600 career homers. But he said he had not yet decided whether to play next season.
"My kids are more important than anything I do in this game," he said. "I'm running out of time. I love playing baseball. This is what I want to do forever, but other things are more important than just baseball. I don't know if 600 is any different than what I end up with this year. It's just a number."
Orioles 6, Mariners 3
Melvin Mora and Sal Fasano hit solo homers for the Orioles. Rodrigo Lopez (8-5) pitched 5 1-3 innings for his second straight victory. B.J. Ryan pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save.
Red Sox 17, Yankees 1
Trot Nixon hit a three-run, inside-the-park homer and drove in five runs, and David Ortiz hit a grand slam Friday as the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 17-1 for the second time this season.
Boston roughed up New York's depleted pitching staff, sending the Yankees to their second loss in 10 games. The Red Sox won 17-1 at Yankee Stadium on May 28, the most runs they ever scored against the Yankees and their biggest margin ever against their archrivals.
"We'd take a win any way we can get it, but it was nice to be able to have some offensive success," Boston manager Terry Francona said.
David Wells (7-5) allowed one run, five hits and no walks while striking out five in seven innings. He was pitching while appealing a six-game suspension he received Friday for making contact with two umpires during his July 2 start against Toronto.
"You've got to get outs, regardless, no matter how big the lead is," said Wells. "Especially with a team that can come back and put a 10-spot on you."
The Red Sox scored six runs off both Tim Redding and Darrell May, who the pitching-strapped Yankees acquired from San Diego on July 2. The Yankees have four starters on the disabled list and were uncertain who would pitch Sunday's series finale. Redding (0-1) left with the bases loaded and no outs in the second after allowing four hits and four runs.
White Sox 7, Indians 1
At Cleveland, Freddy Garcia pitched seven strong innings and Pablo Ozuna had a career-high four hits to lead Chicago over Cleveland.
The White Sox scored four runs in the first inning off C.C. Sabathia (6-6) and Garcia (9-3) made it stand up. The right-hander allowed six hits and three walks to improve to 6-0 in 11 starts since losing to Baltimore on May 14.
The White Sox improved to 28-5 against AL Central teams, including 8-3 against Cleveland.
Garcia improved to 14-2 with a 2.69 ERA over his last 18 road starts since the start of the 2004 season.
Jermaine Dye walked with bases loaded to score the first run for Chicago. Aaron Rowand added a two-run single and Chris Widger had an RBI single.
Blue Jays 11, Devil Rays 6
In Toronto, Shea Hillenbrand homered to highlight a six-run third inning and Toronto beat Tampa Bay to end a four-game losing streak.
Orlando Hudson had three RBIs for the Blue Jays.
Jonny Gomes and Damon Hollins homered for the Devil Rays, who have lost 12 of 14 to fall to a major league-worst 29-62.
Tampa Bay starter Hideo Nomo (5-8) went 2 2-3 innings, allowing seven runs and nine hits.
Toronto starter Gustavo Chacin (8-5) won consecutive starts for the first time since April 11-16 despite allowing five runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Angels 3, Twins 2
At Minneapolis, Darin Erstad had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run, and Paul Byrd pitched seven innings for Los Angeles' win over Minnesota.
Steve Finley drove in a run and stole a homer from Joe Mauer with a leaping catch above the center field wall for the Angels, who equaled a season high with five straight road wins.
The Angels beat the Twins by one run for the fifth time this year, dropping Minnesota's mark in those games to 17-17. Last year, the Twins went 24-16 while winning their third straight American League Central title.
Byrd (9-5) improved to 5-1 over his last eight starts despite a complete-game five-hitter by Minnesota's Brad Radke (6-9). Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth and recorded his 19th save in 21 tries.
Athletics 7, Rangers 2
At Oakland, California, Barry Zito took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and Jay Payton hit a two-run homer on his first swing, and Oakland downed Texas for its fifth straight win.
After Rich Harden took a perfect game into the eighth inning of a two-hitter Thursday, Zito (7-8) was nearly flawless until Kevin Mench homered with one out in the eighth. He struck out five in winning his fourth straight start.
Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and Nick Swisher also connected to back eight innings of two-hit ball by Zito.
Jerry Hairston hit his first career grand slam, and Kerry Wood pitched six strong innings to lead Chicago to an 11-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, the Cubs' fifth straight.
"It felt good, not because it was a grand slam," said Hairston, who was 0-for-6 before the home run. "I think it was the first hit I had since the [All-Star] break. It felt good to contribute."
Aramis Ramirez hit his 20th homer, a three-run shot, for the Cubs, who had 16 hits.
Wood (3-2) made his fourth start since spending nearly two months on the disabled list with a sore shoulder and allowed one run and two hits.
"It's nice to get a 10-run lead and have the opportunity to keep it under around 80 pitches today," he said. "The more innings you can save the better."
Pittsburgh's Jose Castillo had three of the team's four hits -- including a solo homer in the second.
Pittsburgh starter Josh Fogg (4-5) lasted just four innings, allowing six runs and seven hits. He hasn't won since June 1, a span of eight starts.
Marlins 9, Phillies 7
At Philadelphia, Miguel Cabrera had four hits, Alex Gonzalez added three and Paul Lo Duca homered to lead Florida's 17-hit attack against Philadelphia.
Cabrera doubled twice, and Lo Duca, Carlos Delgado and Juan Pierre all drove in two runs for the Marlins, who snapped a four-game losing streak and won for only the third time in nine games.
Pat Burrell hit his 20th homer and had two RBIs for the Phillies, who had a three-game winning streak ended. Chase Utley, Burrell and Jimmy Rollins all had three hits as the Phillies finished with 14. Utley drove in three runs.
The Marlins had 11 hits through four innings and made it a short night for Phillies starter Cory Lidle (8-7).
Brian Moehler (5-6) won his third straight start for the Marlins, giving up four runs and nine hits in six innings.
Braves 2, Mets 1
At New York, John Smoltz won his first matchup with old pal Tom Glavine, pitching Atlanta past New York for his sixth straight win.
Roberto Hernandez (5-3) replaced Glavine and surrendered singles to Marcus Giles and Andruw Jones to open the eighth. After a double play, Wilson Betemit's grounder took a bad hop past shortstop Jose Reyes for an RBI single that made it 2-1.
Glavine and Smoltz were teammates in Atlanta for 15 years and won 11 division titles over that stretch. They are best friends and offseason golf buddies.
Smoltz (10-5) gave up four hits through seven innings with one walk and five strikeouts, including the 2,500th of his career. Chris Reitsma pitched the ninth for his eighth save in 12 chances.
Glavine allowed one run and six hits, walked four and struck out two in seven innings.
Reds 4, Rockies 3
At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a tiebreaking solo homer and Cincinnati's Aaron Harang pitched seven solid innings for his first win since May 30.
Griffey's 519th career homer came off Jason Jennings (5-9) and snapped a 1-all tie in the sixth. Adam Dunn added a two-run shot in the eighth inning, his 24th.
Griffey also made a lead-saving defensive play in the eighth, throwing Eddy Garabito out at the plate when he tried to score from second base on Aaron Miles' single to center.
Harang (5-8) limited the Rockies to a run and three hits in seven innings. The right-hander was 0-6 in his last seven starts with a 5.91 ERA.
Brewers 4, Nationals 3,
10 innings
At Milwaukee, Mike Stanton, making his first appearance for Washington, balked home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th .
Stanton, who signed Wednesday after being waived by the New York Yankees, tried to pick off Rickie Weeks from first base before he even threw a pitch.
Weeks was caught in a rundown but first base umpire Paul Schrieber ruled a balk, allowing Milwaukee's Chris Magruder to score from third.
Magruder led off the inning with a pinch-hit double off loser Luis Ayala (7-6) and advanced on Brady Clark's sacrifice. Ayala intentionally walked Weeks and gave way to Stanton.
Julio Santana (2-3) pitched a perfect 10th as the Brewers won for just the second time in 36 games in which they have trailed after seven innings.
Carlos Lee tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth with his 23rd home run of the season.
Cardinals 4, Astros 3, 13 innings
At St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer off Chad Harville in the bottom of the 13th inning as St. Louis edged Houston.
Mike Lamb had given the Astros a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning with an RBI single.
David Eckstein walked to lead off the bottom of the 13th. After Russ Springer struck out Jim Edmonds, Harville (0-1) was brought in to get his first save of the season and second of his career. Pujols worked Harville to a full count before hitting his 23rd home run into the Houston bullpen.
Lamb, who had tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a sacrifice fly, singled off left-hander Ray King, who was brought in to the left-handed hitter, to make it 3-2. Brad Thompson (1-0) relieved King and got the final out to pick up his first major league win.
Padres 10, Diamondbacks 7
At San Diego, Mark Sweeney had three hits, including a homer, and Damian Jackson had three RBIs to lead San Diego past Arizona.
The Padres, who led 5-0 after five innings, let the Diamondbacks tie it in the sixth, then scored five runs off Arizona's bullpen in the bottom of the inning. Sweeney and Jackson each had a hit and scored during the sixth-inning rally.
Trevor Hoffman came in with runners on first and second and one out in the ninth, threw a wild pitch and walked Jose Cruz Jr. to load the bases. Royce Clayton hit a sacrifice fly before Hoffman struck out Kelly Stinnett for his 26th save in 28 chances and the 419th of his career.
Making just the second pinch-hitting appearance of his career, Arizona's Troy Glaus hit a three-run homer into the second deck in left off Scott Linebrink (4-1) to tie the game at 5 with two outs in the sixth.
Greg Aquino (0-1) was the loser.
Giants 6, Dodgers 0
In Los Angeles, Noah Lowry took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Ray Durham had season highs with four hits and four RBIs as San Francisco handed Los Angeles its sixth straight loss.
Michael Tucker went 4-for-5 with a leadoff homer in the first inning and Pedro Feliz also homered for the Giants.
Lowry (6-9) struck out seven and walked three -- two in the eighth when he was lifted with one out. Scott Eyre pitched 1 2-3 innings to complete the two-hitter.
Derek Lowe (5-10) allowed six runs and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings. He is 0-5 with a 6.34 ERA in seven starts since beating Detroit 5-3 on June 6.
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