Mariners Win Opener (in Tokyo) on Dustin Ackley's Single in 11th

Players of the Day for Wednesday, March 28, 2012

American League

Dustin Ackley

The regular season opened for the Mariners and the A's, as the two battled into the 11th inning in Tokyo, Japan, with the Mariners coming out on top of a 3-1 score.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem right that the MLB season opener should occur outside the US, but name something that isn't wrong with this country these days.

In any case, the game counts and the Mariners are 1-0 and in first place in the AL West, the 0-1 A's in the basement.

Dustin Ackley singled home Brendan Ryan with the go-ahead run, then promptly stole second and scored on Ichiro Suzuki's single, his fourth hit in five at-bats.

Ackley, the Mariners' second baseman who hit .273 in 90 games last season with Seattle, also blasted a solo homer in the fourth of A's starter Brandon McCarthy, but the A's evened the score in the bottom of the inning with a run off Mariner ace, Felix Hernandez.

Brandon League allowed a hit, but struck out two in the bottom of the 11th, earning the first save of the season.

There were no National League games. Most teams are still in Arizona or Florida, rounding out their spring training schedules.

The A's and M's go at it again tomorrow in Tokyo. Game time is 5:10 am EDT.

The National League opener is still a week off, when the Marlins host the Cardinals on Wednesday, April 4, at 7:00 pm EDT. Regular season gets under way over the next few days after that with seven games on Thursday, nine more on Friday and a full slate of 15 games on Saturday, April 7.