In his first season in Japan, Hanshin Tigers leadoff man Matt Murton joined the elite 200-hit club that includes Ichiro Suzuki.

Murton became only the fourth player in Japanese baseball history to have a 200-hit season when he had a solo home run in the seventh inning of Thursday's 6-1 victory over the Chunichi Dragons.

The former Colorado Rockies outfielder went 3-for-5 to raise his season hit total to 201 and help the Tigers avoid being swept in the three-game series.

"I'm so thankful, humbled by the whole thing. I have such great respect for this league," Murton said in a post-game interview at Nagoya Dome.

In Japan, Suzuki was the first player to reach 200 when he collected 210 hits for the Orix BlueWave in his breakout season of 1994.

Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki had 202 hits in 2005 and Alex Ramirez had 204 with the Swallows two years later.

Asked if there was any secret to his success in Japan, Murton said, "There's really no secret. You work hard, you have a God-given ability and then you're given an opportunity. An opportunity is all I could ever ask for and I've been given that."

Murton is hitting .352, second in the Central League to Aoki (.361), with 17 homers and 85 RBIs in 134 games.

The second-place Tigers are 2-1/2 games behind the Dragons, with 10 games left for them to play in the regular season.