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The Seattle Mariners earned their seventh straight opening day victory after shutting out the division champion Oakland Athletics, 2-0 on Monday.
Oakland ace Brett Anderson, who only started in six appearances last season due to injury, displayed no signs of rust early, striking out the first four Mariner batters he faced.
The new look Mariners’ offense was able to settle down and did just enough to help Felix Hernandez earn his first victory of the season. It wasn’t easy, but Seattle scratched out two runs in the fifth inning, after a healthy (finally) Franklin Gutierrez, with two strikes, lined an Anderson fastball up the middle, scoring Dustin Ackley and Brendan Ryan.
The two runs proved to be more than enough offense for Hernandez, who mowed down Oakland hitters with ease, striking out eight in seven and two-thirds innings.
The victory didn’t come without late-game drama however.
Hernandez seemed to lose control late in the eighth inning, and with runners on first and second with two outs, manager Eric Wedge called upon lefty Charlie Furbush to get out of the inning. Furbush was unable to retire a batter after walking Coco Crisp on five pitches, loading up the bases.
After only facing the one batter the ball was then handed to flamethrower Stephen Pryor, who was able to avoid late game disaster after a harmless ground ball rolled to Ackley, ending the A’s threat.
It was closing time for bartender Tom Wilhelmsen who despite a walk, denied Oakland of any late game miracles. Wilhelmsen was able to keep the shutout intact after pitching a nearly flawless ninth inning, putting a pretty bow on the opening day victory.
Hernandez is 4-0 in opening day starts, with a 1.33 ERA in those wins.
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