Sep 23, 2010 2:26 PM EST

Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 50th home run Thursday, a first-inning solo blast off Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez, as reported by the Associated Press.

Bautista is the 26th player in baseball history to reach the 50-home run mark in a season, and the first since Prince Fielder (50) and Alex Rodriguez (54) did it in 2007.

Via AP