Ichiro’s perseverance paying off in chase for 3,000 hits

MIAMI — With an eighth-inning single against the Phillies on Tuesday night at Marlins Park, Ichiro Suzuki crept three hits away from a place where only 29 Major Leaguers before him have gone: the 3,000-hit plateau.

No one knows better how rare and tough it is to get there than Marlins manager Don Mattingly. His playing career with the Yankees petered out at 34 because of a bad back and he finished with 2,153 hits.

Mattingly had three seasons with more than 200 hits and seven with no less than 184. But he couldn’t sustain that pace to get to 3,000 and retired after 14 seasons.

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda,” Mattingly said after his Marlins defeated the Phillies, 5-0. “I’m never going to get there.”

Ichiro will, eventually. Ichiro was in the starting lineup on Tuesday for the first time in five games and went 1-for-5. But he won’t start on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series against the Phillies, his manager said.

He could have had another hit, but Phillies right fielder Peter Bourjos robbed him by banging into the right-field wall to grab a searing line drive in the first inning. Bourjos injured his right shoulder and had to leave the game for all his troubles.

Mattingly thought center fielder Marcell Ozuna needed a day off and so he turned on the Ichiro switch, leading him off and putting him in center. Had Giancarlo Stanton needed a blow on Wednesday, Ichiro might have subbed for him in right.

Stanton went 2-for-4 with a booming ground-rule double and a pair of RBIs. Mattingly intends to play Ozuna and stay with the hot bat of Stanton on Wednesday, relegating Ichiro again to the bench.

The Cardinals come in …

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