Ichiro collects 200th hit, ties MLB record in 5-2 loss to Royals

KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Ichiro's 200th hit this season came in fitting fashion Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. He beat out a ground ball to Royals shortstop Mike Aviles in the top of the eighth inning.

It takes a few infield hits to reach 200 hits eight straight seasons. Ichiro is the master of infield hits and there's a reason for it.

"I was talking with our interpreter on what's Ichiro's general plan for the offseason and he said last year Ichiro took about five or six days off and then reported down to the stadium and started working out," Seattle manager Jim Riggleman said. "He was hitting, running in the outfield at the stadium. It was a year-round preparation to play.

"When you are talking about Ichiro you are talking about one of the greatest players in the game. To get 200 hits eight years in a row is unheard of."

Indeed. Eight straight seasons with 200 hits tied a major-league record with Wee Willie Keeler, who did it from 1894 to 1901.

"I'm separated roughly 100 years with Wee Willie Keeler, and in normal circumstances there is no way I would associate with somebody that far apart with me in years," Ichiro said through interpreter Ken Barron. "Thanks to something like this I have an opportunity to be associated with him and cross paths with him. That's something that makes me very happy."

As it turned out, Wednesday night's game was all about streaks. What Ichiro accomplished should be celebrated. The Mariners losing 5-2 for their seventh straight loss is a stretch to be forgotten.

And the Royals will certainly remember their current six-game winning streak. They haven't had too many of those in the past five years. In fact, this is just their second.

Seattle wasted little time in taking its first lead in the third game of a four-game series.

Ichiro led off the game with a walk. Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a single. After Raul Ibanez struck out, Ichiro and Betancourt pulled off a double steal and both scored on a single by Jose Lopez.

Ryan Rowland-Smith kept the Royals bats quiet through six innings, allowing only three hits, but one of them was a solo homer to Ryan Shealy in the fourth.

Other than the four walks Rowland-Smith gave up in six innings, he pretty much shut down the Royals.

But the main attraction the rest of the game shifted to Ichiro, especially after he doubled in the third for his 198th hit. He singled in the fifth, leaving him just one shy of 200.

The Mariners brought focus back to their losing streak in the bottom of the seventh. Roy Corcoran replaced Rowland-Smith to start the inning and gave up a leadoff single to John Buck.

And then Betancourt made a play that keeps a team in a tailspin. He failed to scoop up a tailor-made double play. His error put runners on first and second with no outs.

Kansas City eventually went ahead 4-2 when Jose Guillen ripped a two-out, two-run single off Miguel Batista. All three runs scored in the inning were unearned.

It was then up to Ichiro to give the Mariners something to cheer and he delivered in the eighth.

"And I saw a lot of the [type of] hits he got tonight, too," said former Mariner Gil Meche, who pitched seven innings and got his 12th win for the Royals. "Obviously, he's got some of the best speed. He runs out of the box when he's swinging. I've seen so many bloops to left. So many infield singles, just beating out guys trying to throw him out.

"He knows how to play. He knows how to put the ball in play, which is the biggest thing for him with his speed. Coming over here from Japan, and doing what he's done is remarkable. You don't see many guys like him around. So it's fun to face him."

Tying the record meant a lot to Ichiro.

"Strictly on a personal goal basis this is the best thing to happen to me this season, much bigger than the 3,000 hits [combined major-league and Japan] because this season I was the only one to have the opportunity to tie this record," he said.

The work ethic that players such as Ichiro and Ibanez put in sets them apart from those who don't prepare every day to be successful, Riggleman said.

"They will look back and say I did everything I could to get everything out of my ability," Riggleman said. "That's going to be very comforting for them when they are done."

No excuses for trip

It's got to be mentally tough to go on an 11-game trip late in the season when there is nothing to play for. But infielder Miguel Cairo wasn't using that as an excuse for the Mariners losing their first seven games of the trip.

"You know, that's part of the schedule," Cairo said. "That's part of baseball. Every time you go on the road you want to win all the games you can. It's tough when you don't win."

The losing streak kind of popped up out of nowhere. The Mariners had won 11 of 17 before the streak started.

"It seems like all season long that's the way we've been playing," Cairo said. "You're playing real good and then we fall apart. But the effort has been there. We've been playing hard. Every time we cross those lines we want to win."

Notes

• Two hits by Lopez gave him 180 for the season, making him the third Mariner to have at least 180, Ichiro and Ibanez the others. It's the first time in Mariners history they have had three players with 180 or more hits. In 1998, Alex Rodriguez had 213, Ken Griffey Jr. had 180 and Edgar Martinez had 179.

• One hitter that rookie pitcher Brandon Morrow probably doesn't want to see too often next season is Royals outfielder David DeJesus. DeJesus' past two home runs have come against Morrow. DeJesus hit one off Morrow on Tuesday night ninth-inning, walkoff homer July 12 in Kansas City when Morrow was a reliever.

• Former Mariner Jose Guillen was back in Kansas City's lineup Wednesday, a day after being a late scratch against the Mariners. Guillen said he was sick. Royals manager Trey Hillman corroborated his account after causing confusion the night before by saying the mercurial outfielder had been scratched based on a managerial decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

For the record

Streak: L7

Home: 31-43

Road: 26-51

vs. AL West: 18-29

vs. L.A.: 4-11

vs. Oakland: 6-7

vs. Texas: 8-11

vs. AL East: 15-29

vs. AL Cent.: 15-27

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 19-29

vs. RHP: 38-65

Day: 18-31

Night: 39-63

One-run: 17-27

Extra inn.: 5-7