Ackley Powers M’s Past Oakland, 3-1 in Season Opener
Published at(TOKYO) — The 2012 baseball season is underway.
The Mariners and Athletics (0-1) kicked things off in Japan and gave the fans 11 innings of baseball before Dustin Ackley drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th and Ichiro Suzuki added an insurance run to give the Mariners a 3-1 win on Tuesday.
“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 also homered in the top of the fourth for his first home run of the season.
Ichiro went 4 for 5 to give him a total of 17 Opening Day hits, breaking Ken Griffey Jr.’s previous franchise record of 14.
“That’s the way he is, he is a guy that is going to get hits, that is what he does,” said Ackley of watching Ichiro’s four-hit performance. “He is fun to watch and especially here in front of his fans.”
Felix Hernandez pitched eight innings of one-run ball for the Mariners in the victory. Tom Wilhelmsen pitched two innings in relief for the Mariners (1-0) to earn the win and Brandon League closed things out for the save.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio