A consensus pick to finish last in the AL West, the Seattle Mariners will spend at least one day of the 2012 season in first place after opening the season with a 3-1, 11-inning triumph over the Oakland A’s in the Tokyo Dome. Dustin Ackley drove in two runs with a home run and an RBI single, but the show belonged to Ichiro.
The capacity crowd of 44,227 a sea of flashbulbs during his every at-bat, Japan’s greatest baseball export thrilled his countrymen with a four-hit night, only the second such performance in an Opening Day game in Mariners history, as Seattle extended its streak of Opening Day wins to six, a franchise record, and the longest such streak in the major leagues.
The Mariners and Athletics entered the 11th inning tied at 1-1, Seattle having gone hitless since the fifth inning. But No. 9 hitter Brendan Ryan opened the frame by driving a fastball from Andrew Carignan into the gap in left center for a double. Chone Figgins then deposited a perfect bunt down the third-base line, sacrificing Ryan to third.
Ackley, who had given the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with a leadoff home run, stroked a single to center, scoring Ryan and staking Seattle to a 2-1 lead.
“I was able to put a good swing on that one,” Ackley said of his 11th inning hit. “Our team is off to a good start, and that’s all that matters.”
“Ackley’s just a good hitter,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin, who skippered the Mariners in 2003-04. “He’s going to be one of the better middle-infield hitters in the league at some point in time.”
After Jerry Blevins replaced Carignan, Ichiro laced a shot through the box for his fourth single of the night, scoring Ackley. That made Ichiro the first Seattle batter to produce four hits in an opener since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1990.
“More than the four hits, it was more being able to enjoy the atmosphere with the fans,” Ichiro said through interpreter Antony Suzuki in the Tokyo Dome visitor’s clubhouse. “Being there with the same feelings, that was special to me. That’s what will stay in my heart. Seeing how they welcomed the players, they were very warm-hearted. That makes you cry.”
Closer Brandon League, taking over for Tom Wilhelmsen, the eventual winning pitcher, then worked an almost flawless bottom of the 11th for his first save of the season.
For the Mariners, the only downside to the game was that starter Felix Hernandez (0-0, 1.13 ERA), did not factor in the decision. Hernandez, 14-14 a year ago, allowed just one earned run — an RBI double by Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki in the bottom of the fourth — on five hits over 8.0 innings. He whiffed six, did not walk a batter, and was the primary reason why the Athletics went a paltry 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
“It was a great win, and it was an honor to pitch here in Tokyo,” Hernandez said. “It’s been unbelievable to be here. Great fans and everything. Everyone worked together and it was a great win for us. And all the fans in the stadium, that was pretty good, man. That was awesome.”
Wilhelmsen delivered two perfect innings in relief of Hernandez, striking out two, and then made way for League, who allowed one hit, but fanned two, sending the Mariners into first place.
“What a great show for the fans and obviously for us and the team,” said Wilhelmsen. “It’s just amazing. Felix is the king of Seattle and Washington. But this is just something un-Godly. Ichiro was just amazing and I’m happy he was able to get those four hits and put on the show he did.”
Offensively challenged in 2011, the Mariners had nine hits to Oakland’s six, seven of the nine coming from the top of the order, Figgins (1), Ackley (2), Ichiro (4). Ryan’s 11th-inning double was Seattle’s only hit for extra bases. Seattle stranded 11 runners, but Oakland left 18 men on.
Chad Pennington had two of Oakland’s six hits and scored the A’s only run in the fourth on Suzuki’s double.
The Mariners and Athletics play the second game of their two-game Tokyo series Thursday at 2:10 a.m., Pacific time. The Mariners will send LHP Jason Vargas (10-13, 4.25) to the mound to contest RHP Bartolo Colon (8-10, 4.00).
Following that game, the Mariners will return to Peoria, AZ., to complete spring training. The Mariners and Athletics resume the regular season with a two-game series April 6-7 at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Seattle plays its home opener April 13, also against Oakland.
MARINERS NOTES
- Hernandez made his fifth Opening Day start, joining Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in club history to make five or more.
- Hernandez is now 3-0 on Opening Day with two no-decisions, including Wednesday.
- Hernandez threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes. He also plunked two batters.
- Ichiro made his 11th Opening Day start, third most in club history behind Edgar Martinez’s 15 and Ken Griffey Jr.’s 13. Ichiro missed the 2009 opener with an injury.
- Ichiro’s four hits give him 17 in Opening Day games, a franchise record. Ken Griffey Jr. held the previous mark with 14. For his career, Ichiro is now 17-for-47 on Opening Day, a .362 average.
- Ichiro batted in the No. 3 slot for just the 14th time in his major league career. He batted leadoff in 1,733 of his first 1,749 major league games.
- Ichiro started his 4-for-5 day with an infield single in the top of the first inning.
- The Mariners opened on the road for the fourth consecutive season and for just the 11th time in franchise history. Seattle is now 6-5 all time in road openers and 21-15 in all opening games.
- Before the game, a video presentation honoring the victims and survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was played on the center field screen at Tokyo Dome. The video was narrated by Derek Jeter, Bobby Valentine and Cal Ripken Jr.
MARINERS WON-LOSS BREAKDOWN
| Rec. | Home | Road | Day | Night | vs. RHP | vs. LHP | Hit HR | No HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
PROBABLE PITCHERS
| Date | Day | Opp. | Probable Pitchers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/29 | Fri | vs. Oak | Jason Vargas (10-13, 4.25) vs. Bartolo Colon (8-10, 4.00) |
| 4/6 | Fri | at Oak | To Be Determined |
| 4/7 | Sat | at Oak | To Be Determined |
| 4/9 | Mon | at Tex | To Be Determined |
| 4/10 | Tue | at Tex | To Be Determined |
MARINERS 2012 SCHEDULE/RESULTS
March
| Gm.# | Date | Opp. | W/L | Rec. | Win / Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3/28 | at Oak | W, 3-1 | 1-0 | W: (S) Wilhelmsen (1-0); L: (O) Carignan (0-1) |
| 2 | 3/29 | at Oak | — | — |
April
| Gm. # | Date | Opp. | W/L | Score | Win / Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4/6 | at Oak | — | — | — |
| 4 | 4/7 | at Oak | — | — | — |
| 5 | 4/9 | at Tex | — | — | — |
| 6 | 4/10 | at Tex | — | — | — |
| 7 | 4/11 | at Tex | — | — | — |
| 8 | 4/12 | at Tex | — | — | — |
| 9 | 4/13 | vs OaK | — | — | — |
| 10 | 4/14 | vs. Oak | — | — | — |
| 11 | 4/15 | vs. Oak | — | — | — |
| 12 | 4/17 | vs. Cle | — | — | — |
| 13 | 4/18 | vs. Cle | — | — | — |
| 14 | 4/19 | vs. Cle | — | — | — |
| 15 | 4/20 | vs. CWS | — | — | — |
| 16 | 4/21 | vs. CWS | — | — | — |
| 17 | 4/22 | vs. CWS | — | — | — |
| 18 | 4/24 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 19 | 4/25 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 20 | 4/26 | at Det | — | — | — |
| 21 | 4/27 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 22 | 4/28 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 23 | 4/29 | at Tor | — | — | — |
| 24 | 4/30 | at TB | — | — | — |
5 Comments
Ideally, the tournament should rotate between all the Pac-12 schools IMO. I would love to see the city of Seattle make a pitch to host it, With so many NBA players hailing from Washington state I think there’d be a lot of interest in it if it came here. Key Arena might not be good enough for the NBA but it’s more than adequate to host the tourney or even some NCAA regional semifinal games.
Seattle has successfully hosted Final Fours. The Pac-12 tourney should be easy to do.
I like the idea of Seattle hosting the tournament, too (KeyArena would be a great venue), but I think the PAC 12 wanted a warm weather city to host it and Vegas is nothing if not a warm weather city. Salt Lake City may have been the best pick, frankly, because the state of Utah has been basketball-crazy for decades and I think SLC would have embraced it totally even with the Jazz in town.
At any rate, it was past time to move out of LA, where the tournament was never a big deal because there is just too much else to do there. I’m not convinced Vegas is the best place to have it, but it’ll be an improvement.
Agreed — the venue had to be moved. Just now watching the near “prime-time” matchup between ASU and Stanford. Cameras are zoomed in as far as practicable to avoid exposing 12,500 or more empty seats. Sad. I know it’s only the opening round but please–this doesn’t happen in the ACC or the Big East. Doesn’t help that there is not a compelling darkhorse ready to pounce. The PAC-12 will catch up but it will take some time. Heck– I might attend the tournament in Vegas–shorter trip from WA, plenty of activities, cheaper stay. On the down side, I would have to get clearance from the war department to attend (it’s a JOKE, dear, I love you!).
Always nice to start the season with a win! I didn’t realize we’re playing Oakland 7 times in the next three weeks – wow.
Ichiro is on pace to have 648 hits this season.