BOSTON -- Rays designated hitter Yandy Díaz reached a personal milestone in his team's 8-4 win over the Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park, collecting career hit No. 1,000.
But the milestone knock wasn’t his only hit in the game. Díaz led off the fifth inning with career hit No. 999 -- a double -- against the left-hander Jake Bennett, but Díaz was left stranded.
Four innings later, Díaz swung at a pitch from right-hander Ryan Watson and smacked it over the head of right fielder Wilyer Abreu for a ground-rule double. Now in his 10th Major League season, Díaz became the 20th Cuban-born player to collect 1,000 hits in his career. The last Cuban player to collect the same amount of hits was Jose Iglesias, who reached that milestone while playing with the Rockies on July 11, 2022 against the Padres.
After the game, the Rays applauded Díaz’s accomplishment. The celebration, however, will last only one day. Then it’s back to work, he said.
“Thank God I was able to get here. I never thought I was going to reach that point,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “So here I am. I’m just very happy about everything. Just to be on that list of guys -- the Cuban names -- it’s just a great honor. I’m happy about everything.”
Why didn’t Díaz think he would reach 1,000 hits?
“Baseball is hard. You could have injuries,” he said. “You don’t make the team sometimes. It’s just a matter of being in the big leagues.”
What about collecting career hit No. 2,000 someday? Unlikely, according to Díaz.
“No. It’s too much, already,” he said.