Henderson ties Ty on career run list

SAN DIEGO -- Rickey Henderson tied Ty Cobb's major league record of 2,245 runs Wednesday night, scoring on Ryan Klesko's two-run double in the third inning of San Diego's game against Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old Henderson walked off Eric Gagne with no outs in the third and pinch-hitter Kevin Witt on base with a leadoff walk. After D'Angeleo Jimenez flied out, Klesko doubled down the right-field line to bring both runners in and pull the Padres to 5-2.

Henderson got a standing ovation from the crowd and was greeted by his teammates in front of the dugout. He then answered two curtain calls. He took off his batting helmet the first time, then came back out, bowed to the fans and then blew them kisses.

Henderson had failed to score in the previous four games.

He still needs three hits to become the 25th player to reach 3,000.

Henderson, in his 23rd season, has said that he wants to slide across the plate when he gets run No. 2,246.

Cobb's record has stood since he retired in 1928.

It's the second major record Henderson has reached this year. On April 25, he became the career walks leader with 2,063, breaking Babe Ruth's record. He's since pushed that record to 2,138.

Henderson has been baseball's stolen base king since May 1, 1991, when he broke Lou Brock's record with steal No. 939. He currently has 1,395, including a team-high 25 this year.

Henderson made a surge toward both the runs record and 3,000 hits last week in Colorado, collecting five runs and six hits in the first two games of a four-game series. That gave him 2,244 runs and 2,995 hits.

He then sat out the final two games of that series, saying he'd like to get the marks either in San Francisco -- he grew up across the bay in Oakland and starred for the A's for years -- or back in San Diego.

In a three-game weekend series at San Francisco, Henderson had two hits and failed to score any runs.

Henderson also owns the big-league record with 79 leadoff homers and set the single-season stolen base record with 130 in 1982.

After playing with the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners last season, he went unsigned until he got a minor-league contract from the Padres with less than two weeks left in spring training, for $300,000.

He opened the season with Triple-A Portland and the Padres purchased his contract on April 17. He also played with San Diego from 1996 until being traded to Anaheim on Aug. 13, 1997.