AP-NW–Sports Right Now/691
MARINERS-RAYS
Rays beat Mariners on bases-loaded walk in 13th
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mike Montgomery walked Logan Morrison with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to bring in the winning run in the Tampa Bay Rays’ 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday night.
Logan Forsythe tripled with one out and scored the winning run after Montgomery hit pinch-hitter Tim Beckham with a pitch and walked pinch-hitter Taylor Motter.
Matt Andriese (6-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings to get the win in his first relief appearance of the season.
Montgomery (2-3) lost for the second straight night.
Nelson Cruz’s 16th home run followed a leadoff singly by Robinson Cano in the fourth inning, giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead against Rays starter Drew Smyly. It was Cruz’s fifth homer in nine games.
Smyly struck out a career-high 12 in 6 2/3 inning while giving up two runs on four hits. After giving up the home run to Cruz, the left-hander did not give up another hit and struck out six of the 11 batters he faced.
MARLINS-SUZUKI
Suzuki reaches hit milestone
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki has reached one milestone and is approaching another.
The Miami Marlins outfielder is closing in on the 3,000-hit plateau in his Major League Baseball career, but he also passed Pete Rose’s hits total with a pair of hits last night in San Diego. He reached on a dribbler up the first-base line in the first inning and doubled in the ninth but the Marlins lost the game 6-3.
Suzuki increased his combined Japanese and North American hit total to 4,257. Rose had 4,256 hits in his MLB career. After the game, he told reporters that for him, it wasn’t about the record — it was about his teammates and the fans.
How Suzuki’s accomplishment compares to Rose’s MLB record is debatable; 1,278 of his hits came during his nine years with Orix in Japan’s Pacific League.
Suzuki entered Wednesday batting .347 in a part-time role and has 2,979 MLB hits, putting him on pace to become the 30th person to reach 3,000.
Suzuki turns 43 on October 22nd.
SUZUKI-JAPAN
Japan pays tribute to Suzuki for passing Rose in hits
TOKYO (AP) — Fans and dignitaries paid tribute to Ichiro Suzuki on Thursday after he raised his career hits total in the Japanese and North American major leagues to 4,257, passing Pete Rose’s record Major League Baseball total.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said “I think it’s an amazing record. A Japanese athlete has once again made a monumental contribution and I feel tremendous pride.”
The 42-year-old Suzuki singled in the first inning against the San Diego Padres and doubled in the ninth to move past Rose, who had 4,256 hits over 24 seasons.
Suzuki had 1,278 hits for Orix in Japan’s Pacific League (1992 to 2000) and the rest with the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees and his current team, the Miami Marlins.
TRAIL BLAZERS-BROADCASTERS
Longtime Blazers broadcasters Barrett and Rice won’t return
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Longtime Trail Blazers television broadcasters Mike Barrett and Mike Rice will not return to the team next season.
Team President and Chief Executive Officer Chris McGowan announced the changes on Wednesday. The Blazers also let go of radio analyst Antonio Harvey.
Barrett, a native Oregonian, had been with the Blazers for 17 seasons, 13 as the lead play-by-play announcer. Rice spent 11 years of his 26 years with the team as a color commentator. Fans referred to the duo as “Mike and Mike.”
Harvey was the radio analyst for 11 seasons. His play-by-play partner, Brian Wheeler, will return for his 19th season.
No replacements were named. It is expected that Wheeler will work without an analyst.
McGowan said he felt it was a good time to “transition into a new direction” and added that there will be a national search to fill the vacant television positions.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
