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 player born in the Dominican Republic to do that.
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 Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox.
A five-time Gold Glove third baseman, Beltre got loud cheers from a crowd anticipating history when he had a couple of assists in the first inning before his first at-bat when he grounded out. He got a loud ovation each time he was introduced when coming to bat in his 2,770th major league game.
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.
