LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Shohei Ohtani notched the 1,000th hit of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career in impressive style Wednesday, belting a two-run homer as part of an impressive two-day display that couldn’t get the Los Angeles Dodgers past St. Louis.

In his starting pitcher’s role Ohtani struck out eight and allowed just two infield singles in four dominant innings.

And at the plate he notched his milestone homer in the third inning, a two-run blast that put Los Angeles up 2-1. It was his 39th home run of the season, one behind National League leader Kyle Schwarber and three behind MLB leader Cal Raleigh.

The Dodgers couldn’t hold on to their early lead, however, the Cardinals rallying for a 5-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

But Ohtani joined newly minted Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui as the only Japanese-born players to reach 1,000 hits in the major leagues.

Ichiro finished his career with 3,089 and Matsui with 1,253.

Ohtani’s performance quelled concern over his previous pitching start, which he departed early due to cramping in his right hip.

Having returned to the starting lineup this year after a near two-year absence in the wake of elbow surgery, he pitched four innings for the first time this season.