"In a perfect scenario, Hideki Matsui would have made history this weekend at his old stamping grounds of Yankee Stadium.

His 500th home run combined between Japan and the major leagues instead came Wednesday night at Comerica Park, and the timing was no problem for the A's.

Matsui's long-awaited blast highlighted a 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers, a rare night when Oakland's offense carried the load.

He launched a 1-0 pitch from Duane Below that glanced off the right-field pole to lead off the sixth inning, making Matsui the first player to combine for 500 homers in Japan and the major leagues.

"I'm happy to be able to get it out of the way," said Matsui, who went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. "Winning the game made it only better."

That's typical of Matsui's team-first approach that has won respect throughout the clubhouse, even as Matsui's first season with the A's hasn't gone according to plan. He is hitting just .223 with seven homers and 43 RBIs, though he has notched eight RBIs over the past three games.

As he went through a 24-game homer drought after hitting No. 499 -- his longest dry spell since a 33-game streak in 2007 -- he never gave any indication his pursuit of history was a priority.

"Hideki seems to be really even-keeled," teammate Landon Powell said. "He hit that homer, and he came in, high-fived everybody and sat down and watched (the game)."

Wednesday's homer was the 168th of Matsui's nine-year big league career. He hit 112 with the Yankees -- with whom he won 2009 World Series MVP honors. He also hit 332 homers in 10 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League."