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Ichiro retires with 3,089 hits, next stop Cooperstown

Updated March 21, 2019 - 8:01 am

TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki was showered with cheers and chants Thursday night while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades when the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 in 12 innings.

The 45-year-old Ichiro went 0 for 4 in the second game of the Major League Baseball season. He got a chance at a storybook ending at the jammed Tokyo Dome when he came up with two outs, a runner on second base and a tie score in the eighth inning, but grounded out.

Ichiro drew a huge ovation from fans and teammates when he was pulled from right field in the bottom of the eighth. The buzz from the sellout crowd of 45,000 diminished after his exit.

“I have achieved so many of my dreams in baseball, both in my career in Japan and, since 2001, in Major League Baseball,” Ichiro said in a statement after the game. “I am honored to end my big league career where it started, with Seattle, and think it is fitting that my last games as a professional were played in my home country of Japan.”

Domingo Santana, who hit a grand slam in Seattle’s 9-7 win in the opener Wednesday, beat out a double-play relay with the bases loaded to drive in the go-ahead run in the 12th.

Ryon Healy and Mitch Haniger homered for the Mariners, off to their first 2-0 start since opening 3-0 in 2014.

Khris Davis hit a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded in the Oakland seventh to make it 4-all. Davis led the majors with 48 home runs last year and homered Wednesday. Davis struck out with the bases loaded to end the 11th.

Dee Gordon singled off losing pitcher Ryan Buchter to begin the Seattle 12th. He later scored on Santana’s one-out grounder when A’s shortstop Marcus Semien and second baseman Jurickson Profar were slow on the turn.

Zac Rosscup got the win and Hunter Strickland closed for his second save.

Ichiro was all smiles as he greeted his teammates after the final out.

The 10-time All-Star, whose pro career began in his homeland in 1992 when he was 18, took his spot in right field to begin the bottom of the eighth. He was then pulled to one more ovation, punctuating his walk with waves, tips of the hat and hugs as cameras flashed all around the park.

Ichiro’s teammates met him outside the dugout for a proper send-off in a three-minute tribute. Yusei Kikuchi, who pitched into the fifth inning of his major league debut, bowed to Ichiro — the Mariners rookie was tearing up as he buried his head into Ichiro’s shoulder.

A 10-time All-Star in the majors, Ichiro got 3,089 hits over a 19-year career in the big leagues after getting 1,278 while starring for nine seasons in Japan. His combined total of 4,367 is a professional record. He went 0 for 1 with a walk in Wednesday’s opener.

Kikuchi became the first Japanese-born player to make his major league debut in Japan. Showing a firm fastball and sharp slider, the 27-year-old lefty gave up four hits in 4 2/3 innings.

In a fitting scene — a passing of the torch, possibly — Ichiro caught a flyball to end the fourth inning and Kikuchi waited for him outside the dugout for a fist bump. Kikuchi could be the next big star from Japan, having signed a contact in January that could be worth $109 million over seven years.

Kikuchi, who went to the same high school as Los Angeles Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, made his second pro start at the Tokyo Dome. He won with Seibu last June. Hiding the ball in his delivery, he often kept Oakland batters off-balance while striking out three and walking one.

Semien hit an RBI single on Kikuchi’s 91st and final pitch, making it 3-1. Roenis Elias relieved and got Matt Chapman to hit a comebacker, but first baseman Jay Bruce dropped the throw, allowing a run to score.

A’s starter Marco Estrada allowed three runs in five innings. The 35-year-old righty made his Oakland debut after going 7-14 with a career-worst 5.64 ERA last season for Toronto while hampered by hip and back problems.

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