Stat Wrap 6/15: Marlins Lose,But Ichiro Hit King*

I’ll be honest; this is up there for most okay I’ve been with watching a losing baseball game.

The Miami Marlins lost to the San Diego Padres 6-3, never overcoming a three-run Padres rally in the fifth inning, but provided baseball fans Petco Park and the world over with four captivating at-bats that were palpably more compelling than anything taking place on the field.  Ichiro Suzuki turned in a 2 for 4 day at the plate, good enough to move him past Pete Rose for the claim to most hits at the professional in the history of baseball.

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Certainly, Mr. Rose would stress the distinction that the MLB record is the one that counts, and is still undeniably his.  But fans at Petco were excited all the same, giving Ichiro a huge ovation and demanding a tip of the cap when he arrived at second base following the ninth inning double clinched the mark.  A huge contingent of Japanese press was present, even featuring camera crews going around interviewing Ichiro-garbed fans prior to the start of the game.

As for the Marlins result, only Ichiro and Adeiny Hechavarria put up multi-hit games, and all runs were scored by the end of the fourth inning.  Starter Justin Nicolino was effective for four innings, before melting down with two outs in frame number five. Miami left eight men on base in the contest, and will get a breather today before returning home Friday for a weekend series against Colorado.

FYI, Jose will not be pitching, as the Marlins are skipping his next turn in the rotation to stay in line with the innings cap plan they outlined with their ace at the start of Spring Training.

And now we Stat Wrap:

• Ichiro Watch: 2 for 5 day, giving him 2,979 hits. Twenty-one away from 3000.
• But most hits as a professional? That’d be 4,257. Most ever- wow.
• Nicolino’s line: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, L. Maybe someone cuts a fifth starter.
• Derek Dietrich returned to action as a pinch hitter, going 0 for 1.
• Giancarlo Stanton had a very dramatic, just missed, 400 ft plus foul ball.
• And was 0 for 1 in his only appearance, a pinch-hit at bat in the ninth inning.
• Martin Prado has a nine-game hit streak.
• Bullpen wise, solid day: 3.1 IP of one-run relief.
• And that one run was scored on a play that absolutely should have been an error, with a ball just falling between Suzuki and Marcell Ozuna as they watched.