Play Ball! Mariners Win Season Opener In Japan

The Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics raised the curtain on the 2012 Major League Baseball season in Tokyo, Japan this morning, in a well-played, extra-inning game that saw the Mariners prevail by a score of 3 to 1.

A Tokyo Dome crowd of 44,000+ came to see their favorite son, Ichiro Suzuki, and they were not disappointed as the former Orix Blue Wave star (Japanese Pacific League) hit four singles in five at bats. He and Dustin Ackley, who went two for five, knocked in the three Mariners runs.    

Both starting pitchers, Oakland A’s Brandon McCarthy and Seattle’s “King” Felix Hernandez, pitched well in their seven and eight innings of work, respectively, each surrendering one run each. The Mariners scored the two runs that represented the winning margin in the top of the eleventh off reliever Andrew Carignan, who took the loss. Tom Wilhelmsen, who pitched two innings for the Mariners after taking over from Hernandez, got the win.

A’s shortstop Cliff Pennington paced the losing squad with two hits. Catcher Kurt Suzuki knocked in the Athletics sole run with a solid double. Their rookie center fielder, Cuban product Yoenis Cespedes, got the first hit of major league career with a double off Hernandez.

This is the fourth time Major League Baseball has opened its season with a series in Japan. This year’s two-game series concludes tomorrow at the same venue and will be televised on the MLB network at 6 am PDT.

*************************************************

You can now “like” Grubby Glove – All Things Baseball on Facebook. If you do, please mention your favorite player and he will be featured in an upcoming “Card of the Week” segment.