DENVER — Ichiro Suzuki defined his career with speed and sharp hits. It was only fitting he flashed both in his historic moment.
Suzuki lined a tripled off the wall for his 3,000th career hit in the major leagues, becoming the 30th player to reach the milestone as the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 10-7 Sunday.
The 42-year-old Suzuki got his big hit in the seventh inning. He became the first player born in Japan to reach 3,000, and joined Paul Molitor, his former hitting coach in Seattle, as the only ones to hit the mark with a triple.
“I wanted to see it go over the fence, but after I heard that Paul Molitor was the other person to do it I was glad it didn’t go over,” Suzuki said. “I have a special relationship with him and having something like this, that is the same thing he accomplished, makes it more special.”
Giancarlo Stanton hit his 24th homer and Christian Yelich and Mathis had three hits and three RBIs each for the Marlins.
Nolan Arenado homered twice and drove in five runs for Colorado. Arenado leads the NL in home runs (29) and RBIs (87).
Yankees 3, Indians 2: Masahiro Tanaka pitched effectively into the seventh inning and on the day they officially announced the end of Alex Rodriguez’s career, New York topped Cleveland.
Tanaka allowed a run and six hits in six-plus innings.
Jacoby Ellsbury had a sacrifice fly, Didi Gregorius homered and Mark Teixeira had an RBI double for the Yankees, who are one game over .500 for the eighth time since the All-Star break.
Nationals 1, Giants 0: Wilson Ramos hit a tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning, Tanner Roark pitched seven strong innings and Washington defeated San Francisco, taking the deciding game in a series pairing the National League East and West Division leaders.
Leading off the seventh against Madison Bumgarner, Ramos lifted an 0-1 slider to the opposite field for this 18th homer of the season.
Mets 3, Tigers 1: Neil Walker’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning powered New York to just its fourth win in 12 games with a victory over Detroit.
Former Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez hit Alejandro de Aza with an 0-2 pitch to lead off the ninth and Walker drove a high 1-0 changeup over the wall in right center for his 19th home run.
Twins 6, Rays 3: Miguel Sano belted two home runs to lift Minnesota to a series victory over Tampa Bay.
In the third inning, Sano launched a three-run homer to left-center field for his 17th blast of the season to give the Twins a 3-1 lead. He came back with a solo shot in the ninth for his second career multi-homer performance.
Reds 7, Pirates 3: Billy Hamilton had three hits, scored three runs, stole four bases and made a leaping, backhand catch in center field to help Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh.
Hamilton was 3-for-4 with a walk before his day ended when he finally was caught stealing in the ninth inning.
Elsewhere it was: Royals 7, Blue Jays 1; Orioles 10, White Sox 2; Braves 6, Cardinals 3; Rangers 5, Astros 3 (11 innings); Mariners 3, Angels 1; Cubs 3, A’s 1; Diamondbacks 9, Brewers 3; Phillies 6, Padres 5; Dodgers 8, Red Sox 5.
