Mariners win opener, 5-2 over Texas

For much of the game, the Mariners' bats were as frigid as the fans.

It was 50 degrees at first pitch, but snow was briefly visible outside the Safeco Field, and spectators bundled up inside as if it were a January football playoff matchup across the street and not the first baseball game of the season.

But just about the time the storm cleared and the sun made its entrance, so too did Seattle's offense heat up. The Mariners scored all their runs in the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers in front of 46,334 at Safeco Field.

The game was the debut for Mariners starting pitcher Erik Bedard, acquired from Baltimore in one of the blockbuster trades of the offseason. Seattle dealt top prospect Adam Jones, an outfielder, along with reliever George Sherrill and three minor-league pitchers to the Orioles for Bedard.

Bedard didn't factor in the decision, leaving after five somewhat sloppy innings — he threw 106 pitches before being replaced.

But he allowed just three hits and one run while striking out five and walking four, keeping the Mariners in it until the offense finally got rolling, scoring two unearned runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh, keyed by a two-run double by second baseman Jose Lopez.

Bedard's Mariners career started in fine fashion as he struck out the first batter he faced, Ian Kinsler.

The next batter, Michael Young, hit a 3-1 pitch just over the wall in right field to put Texas ahead 1-0.

But while Bedard never seemed at the top of his game, he stayed away from serious trouble the rest of the way as no other Rangers got past second base in his final four innings.

Seattle came back to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of a leadoff error.

The inning began when Young, the Rangers' shortstop, booted a grounder from Ichiro.

Lopez followed with a bouncer through a hole at second created when Kinsler moved over to cover an Ichiro steal attempt. Raul Ibanez responded with a shallow pop into right field that scored Ichiro and tied the score.

After a fly out by Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre hit a grounder to third base that Hank Blalock attempted to turn into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Instead, Beltre just beat a throw to first from Kinsler, allowing Lopez to score the go-ahead run.

The Mariners broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs off Texas reliever Kazuo Fukumori, a 31-year-old from Japan making his major-league debut.

A walk, a single and two wild pitches accounted for one run.

After an intentional walk to Ichiro, Lopez hit a hard shot just inside the line at third base that scored two more put the Mariners ahead 5-1.

Texas scored a run in the eighth on a two-out single from David Murphy but that was it.

Sean Green, who took over for Bedard and pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, got the win. J.J. Putz, second in the American League with 40 saves last season, picked up where he left off with a scoreless ninth to record his first save of 2008.

Texas starter Kevin Millwood was the hard-luck loser as he allowed only four hits and no earned runs in six innings.

The game was just the third regular-season contest the Mariners have played in March, winning an opening day game on March 31, 1996 and losing the opener on March 31, 1998.

The Mariners improved to 17-15 on opening day, having won two in a row.

The teams will continue their three-game series Tuesday night at 7:10 at Safeco Field.