Tokyo • Ichiro Suzuki drew the loudest ovation back home in Japan and Domingo Santana delivered the biggest hit, launching a grand slam that led the Seattle Mariners over the Oakland Athletics 9-7 Wednesday in the Major League Baseball opener.
The game at the Tokyo Dome marked the earliest opening day ever — the summer sport actually started on the last day of winter. No doubt, most fans in North America were sound asleep when Oakland's Mike Fiers threw the first pitch at 5:36 a.m. EDT (6:36 p.m. local).
A year after the Cubs' Ian Happ homered on the very pitch of the season, the ball again was flying.