SEATTLE, 17 July 2005 — Baltimore Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro joined two of Major League Baseball’s most exclusive clubs with one swing of the bat on Friday in Seattle, becoming just the 26th player to register 3,000 career hits.
More significantly, Palmeiro’s fifth-inning RBI double to deep left field off Mariners Joel Pineiro placed him in even more elite company joining Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players in baseball history to record 3,000 hits and 500 homers.
The 40-year-old first baseman, already ninth on the all-time homerun list with 566, entered the game needing just one hit to reach the milestone and came through in his third at bat of the night.
After being walked in the first and grounding out in the third, Palmeiro crushed a shot to the wall, the crowd at Safeco Field erupting in a standing ovation.
As the crowd cheered, Palmeiro’s teammates rushed onto the field to congratulate him while his son recorded the milestone on video.
Palmeiro becomes the first player to reach the 3,000-hit mark since Rickey Henderson accomplished the feat in October 2001.
With the hit, Palmeiro tied Roberto Clemente, who recorded his 3,000th hit in the final game he played before he died in a plane crash in 1972.
In the seventh inning, Palmeiro singled to centre to move past Clemente. Pete Rose tops the all-time hit list with 4,256.
In Bosotn, 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. 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 today’s series finale. Redding (0-1) left with the bases loaded and no outs in the second after allowing four hits and four runs.
Tigers 4 Royals 1: At Detroit, Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-run homer and Nate Robertson won at home for the first time this season as Detroit downed Kansas City. Robertson (4-7) won for the first time in nine home starts, giving up one run and five hits in five innings. He is 1-4 at Comerica Park with a 2.50 ERA.
Two relievers finished for the Tigers with Kyle Farnsworth pitching the ninth for his second save.
Jose Lima (2-8), scheduled to start Saturday night, was moved up a day to replace D.J. Carrasco, who was a late scratch because of tightness in his shoulder. Lima allowed four runs — three earned — and nine hits, including two long homers, in six innings.
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.
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.
