Seattle Claims Opener Mariners Battle Back To Defeat White Sox In Major League Baseball’s Earliest Debut

The earliest start ever in baseball history ended with another late-inning win by the Seattle Mariners.

Rookie shortstop Alex Rodriguez singled home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning Sunday night, lifting the Mariners over the Chicago White Sox 3-2 in the first major league game played in March.

“I felt this game could go on forever,” Rodriguez said.

Randy Johnson struck out 14 in seven innings - part of a team record-tying 21 strikeouts by Seattle pitchers - and Frank Thomas hit a two-run homer for the White Sox.

The Mariners, whose 43 comeback wins last year were part of the reason the 1995 A.L. West championship banner was raised in pregame ceremonies, did it again.

They scored the tying run in the ninth on an RBI double by A.L. batting champion Edgar Martinez, and only a lucky bounce for the White Sox prevented Seattle from winning then.

In the 12th, though, Doug Strange reached with one out on an error by second baseman Ray Durham and took third on newcomer Russell Davis’ double. After an intentional walk to Dan Wilson, Rodriguez singled to right-center.

Edwin Hurtado, the fifth Seattle pitcher, was the winner. Loser Bill Simas, a rookie, was Chicago’s seventh pitcher.

Until Sunday night, baseball’s earliest opener was April 2, 1984. The season was supposed to open last year again on April 2, but the strike delayed it until April 25.

The Mariners-White Sox game lasted 4 hours, 7 minutes. By the time it ended, it was already April back in Chicago.

Baseball, hoping to recover from an average attendance drop of 20 percent last year, unveiled its new “What A Game” ad campaign on the outfield fence.

Also making a colorful debut were new red shirts that A.L. umpires will wear at times this year. Not seen, however, were any of the new, below-the-kneecap strikes that baseball wants called this season to speed games.

A sellout crowd of 57,467 at the Kingdome saw Thomas homer in the first - an inning in which Johnson struck out three. Johnson allowed only two more hits, and the 1995 A.L. Cy Young winner fanned Thomas in his next two at-bats.

In the ninth, the Mariners looked like they’d get the winning run when White Sox reliever Roberto Hernandez threw a ball to the backstop with a runner on third.

The ball bounced hard off the backstop, however, and ricocheted to catcher Ron Karkovice. He lunged to tag out a diving Joey Cora in a close play that brought Mariners manager Lou Piniella onto the field to argue with plate umpire Jim McKean.

Thomas, who hit 40 homers last year when the White Sox finished 32 games behind Cleveland in the A.L. Central, got the first hit of the 1996 season.

After new leadoff batter Tony Phillips walked and Durham struck out, Thomas hit the first pitch the opposite way over the right-field wall. Thomas finished with two of Chicago’s five hits.

Darren Bragg got the Mariners within 2-1 in the fifth with a home run off Alex Fernandez.

In the Seattle ninth, pinch-hitter Luis Sojo drew a walk from Joe Magrane, and pinch-runner Alex Diaz advanced on Karkovice’s passed ball.

Cora blooped a single that sent Diaz to third, then Magrane retired Ken Griffey Jr. on a shallow fly. That brought up Martinez and the exciting sequence.

Johnson, the four-time major league strikeout champion, fanned the side three times. He walked three and left after throwing 129 pitches.

Notes

Karkovice struck out five times… . Thomas’ homer was the third of his career against Johnson. The Big Hurt is 8-for-30 (.267) with 14 strikeouts against the Big Unit… . Johnson struck out 10 or more for the 67th time in his career… . The crowd was the sixth-largest for a M’s game in the Kingdome.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: 96 BASEBALL FIRSTS Pitch: A ball. Randy Johnson of Seattle threw it to Tony Phillips of Chicago on Sunday night. Hit: A home run by Frank Thomas. He connected off Johnson in the first inning. Run: Phillips. Scored on Thomas’ homer. Walk: Phillips, leading off the game. Strikeout: Ray Durham of the White Sox. Johnson struck out Durham, Lyle Mouton and Robin Ventura in the first inning, then fanned Ron Karkovice and Darren Lewis in the second. Stylish Moment: Umpires wearing red short-sleeve shirts at the Kingdome. The A.L. men in blue will dress in red and navy tops this season; N.L. umpires rejected red and will stick with navy. Flag raising: Mariners hoisted 1995 A.L. West championship banner during pregame ceremonies. Ceremonial first pitch: Former Mariners second baseman Harold Reynolds.