NEWS » Ichiro drew all the cheers. Most everyone else on the Seattl

TOKYO (AP) —e Mariners did all the hitting.A crowd that came to salute Ichiro Suzuki in his homeland saw Domingo Santana deliver the biggest hit at the Tokyo Dome Jesse Barfield Jersey , a grand slam that sent Seattle over the Oakland Athletics 9-7 Wednesday in the Major League Baseball opener.Batting ninth and knowing he’d get two plate appearances, Ichiro popped up and worked a walk. The 45-year-old star took his spot in right field to begin the bottom of the fourth inning, then was pulled to another huge ovation. He was met with hugs from the Mariners on the diamond.“The fans in Japan probably aren’t used to the reception I got from my teammates, but it’s not that unusual in the majors,” Ichiro said.Mariners manager Scott Servais said Ichiro will play in Thursday’s final game of the series, but there is no guarantee he’ll start.“We certainly want to give him an opportunity to go out and play, but we also want to get some other guys in the game,” Servais said. “I understand everybody wants to see him go all nine innings. We’re trying to do the best thing for the team and Ichiro understands.”This marked the earliest opening day ever — the summer sport actually started on the last day of winter. No doubt, most fans in North America were sound asleep when Oakland’s Mike Fiers threw the first pitch at 5:36 a.m. EDT (6:36 p.m. local).A year after the Cubs’ Ian Happ homered on the very pitch of the season, the ball again was flying.Tim Beckham also homered as several Seattle newcomers excelled. Khris Davis, who led the majors with 48 home runs last year, Stephen Piscotty and Matt Chapman connected for the A’s.“It was great. It’s a fun crowd to play in front of. Even the pregame stuff was exciting. I think everybody had a good time http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey ,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.A packed crowd of 45,787 was buzzing for its favorite star, sending cheers, chants and camera flashes for Ichiro bounding all around the park. Signs and Ichiro jerseys were plenty, too.Ichiro became the second-oldest position player to start an opener, only a few months younger than Julio Franco was for Atlanta in 2004. Several of the players in this game weren’t born when Ichiro began his pro career.Ichiro is getting very near the end of a sensational pro career that began in Japan in 1992 when he was at 18. He stopped playing last May to become a Mariners special assistant — after totaling 4,367 hits on both sides of the ocean — and struggled in spring training this year.Santana, one of many Mariners new to the lineup, had no trouble at the plate. His opposite-field grand slam capped a five-run burst in the third for a 5-2 lead and Beckham’s drive in the fifth made it 9-4.Beckham got three hits and scored three times. Also making a nice debut for Seattle were Jay Bruce, who singled for MLB’s first hit of the season, and Edwin Encarnacion, who scored twice.The Mariners won for the 12th time in 15 openers. They also beat the A’s in 2012 when MLB last started in Japan.Seattle starter Marco Gonzales hung in for six innings George Bell Jersey , allowing three earned runs and seven hits, and got the win. Felix Hernandez had started the last 10 openers for the Mariners.Hunter Strickland pitched a scoreless ninth for a save in his first game for Seattle. Edwin Diaz, who led the majors with 57 last year, was traded with Robinson Cano to the Mets in the offseason.Fiers, making his first opening day start at 33, was hit hard for three innings and took the loss.NOT THIS TIMEAfter a lot of offseason talk about improved pace of play, the opener took 3 hours, 24 minutes. … The Mariners had held opponents to no more than three runs in their past 12 openers, an MLB record.TRAINER’S ROOMMariners: C Omar Narvaez got stung in the bare thumb on a fastball right down the middle after an early cross-up with Gonzales. Narvaez was checked by a trainer and stayed in. … 1B Daniel Vogelbach was hit in the elbow by a pitch and kept playing.Athletics: OF Nick Martini (sprained knee), who hit well after making his big league debut last season, is on the injured list for at least another week.UP NEXTMariners: LHP Yusei Kikuchi makes his major league debut in his home country. The 27-year-old lefty starred for Seibu last season, then joined Seattle with a contract that could be worth $109 million over seven years. Kikuchi mixes a hard fastball with a tough Dave Winfield Jersey , looping curve.Athletics: RHP Marco Estrada makes his debut after signing with the A’s. The 35-year-old was 7-14 with a career-worst 5.64 ERA last season for Toronto and was hampered by hip and back problems. The Mariners and Athletics will kick off the 2019 MLB season by facing off in Japan on Wednesday at 5:35 a.m. ET (ESPN).The Athletics are -122 with Mike Fiers set to face Marco Gonzales.Set those alarm clocks early, folks! We have early morning/middle of the night baseball to be played. Though the true “opening day” isn’t until next Thursday, the Athletics and Mariners will be playing two games in Japan on Wednesday and Thursday morning at 5:35 a.m. ET.That’s a tall task for even the biggest baseball fans considering these games are smack dab in the middle of a work week.2019 MLB Cheat Sheet: Betting Previews for All 30 Teams, Futures, Props, Picks and AnalysisRead nowThough Oakland and Seattle finished with 97 and 89 wins, respectively, last year, both are expected to take significant steps back in 2019. Oakland is still seen as a contender for the second wild card spot, but Seattle could potentially fall below 70 wins.Here’s how we’re looking for the first game of the 2019 MLB season.Odds as of 2 p.m. ET. Check live odds page for latest oddsSeattle Mariners vs. Oakland AthleticsStarters: Marco Gonzales (L) vs. Mike FiersMoneyline: Oakland -122, Seattle +113Over/under: 8.5 (o-115)There will be some great opening day pitching matchups, but this certainly isn’t one of them.Marco Gonzales is the M’s “ace Jack Morris Jersey ,” but is projected to be a fairly average pitcher. Last year, he went 13-9 in 29 starts with a 4.00 ERA, though that number was a bit unlucky per his FIP and xFIP.On the flipside you have Mike Fiers, who was the opposite of unlucky (aka lucky). Fiers was the most profitable starter in the majors last year, as the Tigers and A’s went 21-9 in his starts for a whopping +17.0 units — four units more than the next best.His ERA of 3.56 was more than one run better than his FIP, the largest differential out of any qualified pitcher. You should probably expect his ERA to rise north of four this year.One reason why baseball fans may want to wake up early is the fact that Ichiro is starting for the Mariners. Though he struggled mightily this spring and posted a negative fWAR in each of the past two seasons, he’ll get to play in front of his home country one last time.It’s unclear whether or not he’ll remain on the roster next week when the Red Sox visit Seattle. It’s possible that he gets one final hit and calls it a career.