Ichiro Goes Oh-fer In Game 2

In the second game of the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) season opening up in Tokyo, the Oakland Athletics gained a two-game split against the Seattle Mariners with a 4-1 victory at the Tokyo Dome.

Josh Reddick and Jonny Gomes homered for Oakland, which bounced back from a 3-1 loss in 11 innings in Wednesday's opener.

Oakland starter Bartolo Colon limited Seattle to three hits, including Justin Smoak's solo homer, and struck out six while walking only one in his Oakland debut.

Jason Vargas started for the Mariners and did not factor into the decision, as he was lifted after 6 1/3 innings. The lefty was charged with a run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Colon, the former Cy Young winner retired the first 13 batters before Jesus Montero singled through the right side of the infield with one out in the fifth.

Miguel Olivo singled with two outs and Michael Saunders drew a walk to give Seattle a mild threat, but Colon induced a ground ball from Brendan Ryan to keep the game scoreless.

Colon did not pitch in the majors in 2010, but returned last season with the New York Yankees and posted a record of 8-10 with a 4.00 earned run average in 29 games, including 26 starts.

Vargas, who was 10-13 with a 4.25 ERA last year, was just as good early. He gave up a one-out single to Cliff Pennington in the first, then did not allow another baserunner until Reddick's two-out double in the fifth.

Seattle finally broke through when Smoak led off the seventh with a home run.

As for local hero and Seattle Mariners superstar Ichiro Suzuki - which is what all of the photographers in the image above are waiting for:  after going 4 for 5 in Wednesday's opener, he went oh-fer in four at bats.

Files by Andrew Joseph

Ichiro Suzuki Plays In Japan Again

Ichiro Suzuki in the 4th Inning of the MLB opener in Tokyo.

Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife isn't exactly sure why MLB (Major League Baseball) is opening its season in Japan - or even why it feels the need to bring its product to the land of the rising sun... but, at least for one game, the prodigal son has returned.

Suzuki Ichiro (surname first) and his Seattle Mariners kicked of the 2012 MLB season at Tokyo Dome with a 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Known solely by his first name in the west - Ichiro - the Japanese-born ball player did not disappoint the fans who saw him go 4-for-5 with an RBI (runs batted in) in the 11th inning.



A capacity crowd of 44,227 at Tokyo Dome was a sea of flashbulbs every time Ichiro Suzuki came to bat. He even got a standing ovation when he took his position in right field in the final inning.

Ichiro is in his 12 MLB season, all with the Mariners, and this is the first year he has not hit lead-off, as he has moved down to bat third.

The man is the best hitter in all of baseball. For a full look at his accomplishments, check out this Wikipedia site: HERE.

He singled in the first inning after he beat out a throw from Oakland shortstop Cliff Pennington.

He singled on a deep grounder to the shortstop again in the fourth - Ichiro still has tremendous wheels!

And he singled in the sixth inning, to go along with an RBI single in the 11th. 
 Despite all of the Ichiro heroics, the game was actuall won by Seattle's Dustin Ackley who hit a solo homer in the 11th.


The two teams go at it again in the finale tomorrow before heading back to North America and await the rest of MLB to begin on April 4, 2012.

Again, while I am unsure why Japan needs to see MLB considering it has its own fine baseball league, this game is certainly not the first time MLB has visited Japan for regular-season games.


The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs opened in Tokyo in 2000, followed by the New York Yankees versus Tampa Bay (2004), and Boston against Oakland (2008). Seattle and Oakland were to have played at the Tokyo Dome in March 2003, but the series was canceled because of the threat of war in Iraq.

MLB also did the classy thing at this year's opener and provided a pre-game video presentation honoring the victims and survivors of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The video was narrated by Derek Jeter, Bobby Valentine and Cal Ripken Jr.