Felix Hernandez, Ichiro put on show in 1-0 win over Tampa Bay Rays

It was a pitch, Ichiro said simply enough, that he saw well and hit well.

That's more than anyone else could say on this day, however, as the Mariners used some dominating pitching from Felix Hernandez and two relievers to make Ichiro's leadoff home run stand up for a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 17,639 at Safeco Field Thursday afternoon.

In fact, while the defending American League champion Rays afterward praised the performance of Hernandez, they said simply seeing the ball in the late afternoon sun was a lot of the problem.

"Maybe put the roof up when the sun's like that," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "It's really hard to see. It's an inappropriate way to play that game, based on the sun and the shadows. I would recommend that under those circumstances, if you've got to play a game at that time, they should close it. It's really difficult for everybody offensively. It should be considered."

Hernandez acknowledged later that he knew that, with the shadows, "the hitters can't see the ball." But the Mariners also contended that Hernandez was as on his game as he has been in quite a while.

"Felix showed you what he can be," said manager Don Wakamatsu after Hernandez allowed just four hits, all singles, while striking out seven in seven innings. He also didn't get rattled when the Mariners committed two errors on one play in the second inning and another in the third, a sign of his continuing maturity at age 23.

"I contained my emotions," he said.

And he did it all while battling a sore ankle that he first injured on opening day in Minnesota April 6 and aggravated anew in the second inning Thursday while stepping on first base.

"He was throwing his sinker really, really well," said Mariners catcher Rob Johnson of Hernandez, who improved to 3-0 for the first time in his career. "It was setting up all the other pitches for him. When guys are swinging at a ball and my glove is hitting the ground, you can tell it's a pretty good sinker."

Still, the Rays had runners on base in all but two innings, and all but one against Hernandez. But they went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position battling both tough pitching -- David Aardsma pitched a perfect eighth and Brandon Morrow a hitless ninth -- and the shadows.

"Initially you saw it [the pitch] out of the hand, and after that you didn't really see it," said Rays outfielder B.J. Upton.

The Mariners, meanwhile, had just six base runners all game, and only one that got as far as second after Ichiro's homer. It was the second time this year Seattle won a game with just four hits, something it did just twice the previous three seasons combined.

While Ichiro said he knew going in runs would be scarce, he wasn't looking to hit a home run when he jacked the second pitch from Tampa Bay starter James Shields into the right-field stands.

Shields was likewise surprised, saying it was "a fastball that I left up. You're not really expecting him [to hit it out]. I left the ball up, and he got it."

It was the 22nd time in major-league history a team won a game 1-0 with the run coming on a leadoff homer, according to David Vincent of SABR, and the second time in Mariners history. The other time the Mariners pulled it off was June 19, 1992, at Minnesota via Greg Briley.

It added up to another somewhat improbable win for a team that continues to improbably lead the AL West. The Mariners, now 10-6, had a couple of clunkers on this opening nine-game homestand, but finished it 5-4 against Tampa Bay, Detroit and the Los Angeles Angels.

After the matinee, they boarded a plane for a six-game trip that figures to be additionally telling, as they'll face the Angels and Chicago White Sox, both playoff teams a year ago.

"The team confidence right now is unbelievable," Johnson said. "We played some pretty good teams and we've beaten some pretty good teams. It's definitely a confidence builder as far as the team goes."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com