Japan's Ichiro Suzuki was compared to Hercules by fellow players after breaking one of Major League Baseball's (MLB) oldest records. The Seattle Mariners outfielder was splashed all over Monday's evening newspapers in his homeland after becoming the first man to record 200 hits for nine straight seasons. “To get to 200 hits is amazing but to do it nine years running is a Herculean feat,” New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui told Japanese media after Sunday's MLB games. “Ichiro has proved that even in the majors he's one of the best players around.” The 35-year-old reached the milestone with a single in the second game of a double-header against the Texas Rangers to beat the previous mark of eight consecutive seasons set by Willie Keeler in 1901. Ichiro himself, who left Japan for the major leagues in 2001, spoke of a “sense of liberation” after his latest MLB record, set to be marked with a commemorative stamp in his home country. Ichiro Suzuki beat out an infield single to become the first player in major league history with at least 200 hits in nine straight seasons, Felix Hernandez (15-5) scattered four hits over seven shutout innings, and Seattle split a doubleheader. Rangers wone the first game 7-2 and Mariners took the second 5-0. In his second at-bat of the nightcap, Suzuki hit a slow roller to shortstop Elvis Andrus, beating his throw for No. 200 and driving in a run to make it 2-0. Red Sox 4, Tampa Bay 0: Jon Lester allowed two hits in eight innings as the Boston Red Sox beat Tampa Bay for a doubleheader sweep, handing the American League champion Rays their 11th consecutive loss. Tampa Bay's losing streak is the longest by a major league team this season. In the opener, Dustin Pedroia's tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning sent Boston to a 3-1 victory behind Clay Buchholz and two relievers. Lester (13-7) followed Buchholz's strong outing with an even better one. Buchholz allowed one run and five hits in seven innings before Hideki Okajima (6-0) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. The Rays were outscored 16-2 and managed a total of 14 hits in Boston's three-game sweep. James Shields (9-11) lost the nightcap, Matt Garza (7-10) the opener. Yankees 13, Orioles 3: At New York, Hideki Matsui homered and drove in five runs, CC Sabathia became the AL's first 17-game winner and the Yankees avoided a three-game sweep against last-place Baltimore. Melky Cabrera finished with four RBIs for New York, which totaled 20 hits after getting 19 in the first two games of the series combined. Derek Jeter went 3 for 5 and scored three times to give him 101 runs on the season, reaching the century mark for the 12th time. Matsui hit a tiebreaking, two-run single off Jeremy Guthrie (10-14) in the sixth and a three-run homer in New York's eight-run eighth. Sabathia (17-7) held Baltimore to three runs and five hits in seven innings. Angels 3, White Sox 2: At Anaheim, California, Torii Hunter hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the seventh inning against Mark Buehrle, and Los Angeles beat Chicago. The AL West leaders took two of three from the White Sox, who dropped into third place in the AL Central. They are six games behind division-leading Detroit, and a half-game back of Minnesota. Tigers 7, Blue Jays 2: At Detroit, Gerald Laird and Brandon Inge each had two RBIs, helping the Tigers snap a season-worst five-game skid. Rick Porcello won a matchup with fellow rookie Ricky Romero. Porcello (13-8) gave up two runs on four hits in six innings to improve to 3-0 in his last four starts. Romero (12-8) also went six innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits. Royals 7, Indians 0: At Cleveland, Kyle Davies carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight start, pitching Kansas City past the Indians. Twins 8, Athletics 0: At Minneapolis, Joe Mauer had three hits, including his 27th home run, and rookie Brian Duensing helped Minnesota avoid a sweep.
