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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre had a single for his 2,999th career hit leading off the fourth inning of the Texas Rangers' game Saturday night against Baltimore.
That grounder through the left side of the infield in his second at-bat of the game put him within one hit of becoming the 31st player in the major league to reach 3,000 career hits. The 38-year-old third baseman would be the first Dominican Republic native to do that.
In his first attempt at 3,000 hits in his next at-bat, Beltre grounded out to shortstop in the sixth.
Beltre, in his 20th big league season, had nine hits in the first four games of the homestand before Saturday night. This is his seventh season in Texas after previously playing for the Dodgers, Seattle and Boston.
Beltre got loud cheers from the crowd of 44,658 from the start. The only other active player in the 3,000-hit club is Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who was 23rd on the all-time list with 3,060 hits going into Saturday night.
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