Mariners vs. A's: Winners and Losers from MLB's 2012 Season Opener

We are officially one game into the 2012 Major League Baseball season, though many people in America either didn't notice or didn't care to notice.

While America was either sleeping or just waking up, the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners played a game that went to extra innings. The Mariners got key hits from Dustin Ackley and Ichiro Suzuki in the 11th inning and won the game 3-1.

If you're reading this, my guess is that you didn't get a chance to watch the game and that you're looking for a recap of sorts.

If so, well, challenge accepted. Ahead of you is a rundown of the winners, losers, heroes and goats from MLB's season opener.

Winner: Seattle Mariners

Duh. They won the game, after all.

The Mariners didn't exactly look like eventual world champions in Wednesday's season opener, but they got to see plenty of encouraging things.

First and foremost, they got eight very strong innings from Felix Hernandez. Sure, he was facing an A's lineup that ranks among the worst in the league, but Hernandez looked every bit like the pitcher who won the American League Cy Young in 2010.

The Mariners also saw Ichiro collect four hits, a good sign seeing as how Ichiro hit just .272 last season. He batted out of the three-hole, a spot that apparently agrees with him.

Dustin Ackley made good on the promise he showed last season by collecting a pair of hits, one a home run and the other an RBI single.

In the end, the Mariners collected a 3-1 win. That'll do for an opener.

Winner: Japan

A lot of people (including myself) are not fans of the idea of MLB opening its season in Japan, but the good people of Japan don't seem to mind it all that much.

Wednesday's opener drew a crowd of more than 44,000 people to the Tokyo Dome, which has a listed capacity of 42,000.

The crowd was treated to an outstanding pitching duel that went to extra innings, and Ichiro was one of the game's big stars.

What's not to like about that?

Opening the season in Japan is essentially a goodwill thing and a chance for MLB to expand its brand—both of which are understandable pursuits on the part of the league.

The fact that the opening game was a good one is a bonus.

Loser: Oakland Athletics

The perception of this particular A's team is that it's almost entirely devoid of major league talent and doomed to finish at or near the bottom of the barrel not just in the American League West, but the American League in general.

The A's did not inspire any second thoughts in Wednesday's opener. You can't fault them for getting owned by King Felix, but one is left to wonder if this A's lineup is capable of threatening even the league's more mediocre pitchers.

On the bright side, at least Brandon McCarthy looked good. He only made one mistake, a belt-high fastball to Ackley in the fourth inning, and he threw just 82 pitches in seven innings of work. He was great last season, and he's off to a good start so far this season.

Loser: The Bay Area

Anybody in the Seattle area who wanted to enjoy Wednesday's opener had options. The Mariners organization hosted a humble viewing party at Safeco Field, and the game was televised live by Root Sports.

Anybody in the Bay Area who wanted to enjoy Wednesday's opener had no options. None.

For starters, the game was not televised live by any local station in the Bay Area, meaning anybody who happened to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to watch the game had to turn to online streaming.

But nope. As pointed out by Awful Announcing, the game was blacked out in the Bay Area. It was blacked out in the Seattle area too, for that matter.

One word comes to mind: fail.

Epic fail.

Hero: Felix Hernandez

King Felix started his 2012 season by being his dominant self.

All told, Hernandez pitched eight innings, giving up five hits and no walks with six strikeouts.

He threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes.

Hernandez was slightly on the wild side, as he hit two batters in his eight innings and threw first-pitch strikes to just 17 of the 31 batters he faced.

Against a better lineup, he probably wouldn't have lasted eight innings.

Still, this is start No. 1 we're talking about for King Felix. It certainly could have been a lot worse, and the scary part is that we know he can only be better.

Hero: Dustin Ackley

It looks like the Mariners have something in Dustin Ackley.

Ackley hit a solid .273 after he was called up last season, and he started his first full major league season off by collecting a home run and a key go-ahead hit.

The home run Ackley hit was no cheapie. He turned on an elevated fastball on the inner part of the plate and smashed it several rows up the center field bleachers. He's billed as a line-drive hitter, but he's clearly got some pop in his bat.

If Ackley can hold down the No. 2 spot and Chone Figgins returns to form batting leadoff, the Mariners aren't going to be a pushover offensively this season. So far, so good.

Hero: Ichiro

How 'bout that for a homecoming, eh?

Playing in front of thousands of adoring fans, Ichiro went 4-for-5 batting out of the No. 3 spot, collecting his first RBI of the season in the 11th inning when he drove home Ackley with a single to up the score to 3-1.

Ichiro is going to make for an odd No. 3 hitter, as he's not going to hit a lot of home runs and he's not going to take a lot of walks, but it's pretty encouraging that he took to his new spot like a duck to water on Wednesday.

If the guys in front of Ichiro get on base, he'll have no trouble keeping the line moving this season.

Hero: Brandon McCarthy

Brandon McCarthy had a very Brandon McCarthy-esque start on Wednesday.

Of McCarthy's 82 pitches, 59 were strikes, and he didn't walk a single hitter.

He gave up six hits, but the only one that hurt was the home run by Ackley that came on a mistake pitch.

McCarthy was successful primarily because he kept the ball on the ground. He induced 12 ground-ball outs to five fly-ball outs, to go along with three strikeouts.

Keep an eye on McCarthy this season. He's not a guy who is going to wow you in any particular start, but he's going to put up sneaky-good numbers all season long, just like he did in 2011.

Goat: Andrew Carignan

Andrew Carignan didn't make much of an impression in limited action last season, and he didn't make much of an impression when he came into Wednesday's game in the 11th inning.

Carignan recorded just one out and gave up two hits and, ultimately, two earned runs.

He'll head forward with an ERA of 54.00 hanging over his head.

Oh, he also got the loss. It's safe to say he could have asked for a better 2012 debut.

Goat: Coco Crisp

Seattle's No. 3 hitter had a great debut.

Oakland's No. 3 hitter did not.

Coco Crisp went 0-for-5 in Wednesday's game, striking out once.

He's not your prototypical No. 3 hitter, and he didn't look like one in the first game of the season.

It's not like the A's have any better options, mind you. Even still, I'll be surprised if Crisp lasts the season in the No. 3 hole. He belongs elsewhere.

Goat: Justin Smoak

Justin Smoak failed to live up to his potential in 2011, and he did not get off to a good start in Wednesday's game.

Batting out of the cleanup spot, Smoak went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

It's only one game, but each and every 0-fer Smoak collects this season will only further the notion that he's a bust.

The Mariners shouldn't be too patient with Smoak. If he doesn't start hitting, they'll have to move him down in the lineup.

The pressure is officially on in Smoak's third major league season.

Because People Are Going to Ask: Yoenis Cespedes and Jesus Montero

They didn't do much, but I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention Yoenis Cespedes and Jesus Montero.

Cespedes went 1-for-3 in his major league debut, striking out twice.

His lone hit was a double to center field that he got on a breaking ball on the outside part of the plate.

It actually looked like he was caught off-balance, but the ball rocketed off his bat and went straight over Michael Saunders' head in center field.

That, my friends, is power. Cespedes has a lot of it.

Montero, sadly, went 0-for-4. He saw only nine pitches all day.

Jitters? Maybe. I'm still of the mind that Montero is going to be an elite hitter, and that the Mariners got the better end of the Montero-Michael Pineda swap. 

At least until Pineda starts throwing 98 again. I reserve the right to change my mind.