KYODO NEWS - Sep 7, 2017 - 15:30 | Sports, All

Ichiro Suzuki went one better than Japan's all-time home run king Sadaharu Oh on Wednesday when he reached 5,863 total bases in Japan and Major League Baseball combined in the Miami Marlins' 8-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Suzuki had a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning off Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez (14-6) at Marlins Park for his 3,974th base in the big leagues. He had 1,889 in nine years through 2000 with the then Orix BlueWave in Nippon Professional Baseball.

"His record is special because he holds a special place in my heart," Suzuki said of Oh, who managed the national team of which he was a member at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 won by Japan.

"Anytime my record is compared with his or something about me is compared with him, I get this feeling inside that I can never do anything wrong" that could damage his good name, the 43-year-old outfielder said.

Oh notched an NPB-record 5,862 total bases during his 22 years with the Yomiuri Giants.

Gonzalez, off whom Suzuki got his 2,000th hit in the majors in 2009, and three Nationals relievers held the Marlins scoreless over eight innings, and the home team's only run was scored on a Miguel Rojas RBI groundout in the bottom of the ninth.

Miami starter Dillon Peters (0-1) gave up three runs on six hits and two walks in five innings to take the loss, and Junichi Tazawa worked two innings from the seventh but the Japanese right-hander surrendered a solo shot to Michael A. Taylor that widened the gap to 7-0 in the eighth.

At Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles starter Kenta Maeda struck out eight over five innings but did not figure in the decision as he left the mound with the score tied 1-1 before the Arizona Diamondbacks went on to win 3-1.

Maeda, who has a 12-6 record this season, held the visitors to one unearned run while scattering four hits and issuing a walk but the Dodgers lost their sixth game in a row after giving up two runs in the seventh, while the Diamondbacks won their franchise-record 13th consecutive game.

At Citi Field in New York, Norichika Aoki went 1-for-3 and stretched his hitting streak to nine games, helping the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 in a game that was called in the bottom of the sixth due to rain.