GRIFFEY HOMERS AS MARINERS WIN OPENER

Ken Griffey Jr’s first game back in a Seattle Mariners jersey couldn’t have gone better.  Griffey hit a fifth inning home run and the Mariners opened the 2009 MLB season with a victory on the road as they beat the Minnesota Twins 6-1 at the Metrodome on Monday.  2009 will be the Twins last season in the domed venue as they move to a new open air facility next year.

Seattle jumped on top in the 2^nd inning when Jose Lopez’s sacrifice fly scored Adrian Beltre from third base.  Griffey hit his solo blast in the 5^th inning with no one on base to give the M’s a 2-0 lead.  Minnesota would cut the Seattle advantage to 2-1 in the bottom half of the fifth, but the Mariners would regain control of the contest in the top of the sixth on Franklin Gutierrez’s two run home run.  Seattle would add two more in the top of the 9^th when Jose Lopez would single home Gutierrez and pinch runner Wladimir Balentien to give the team their final 6-1 margin of victory.

The game was significant on another level as it marked the debut of new Mariners’ manager Don Wakamatsu.  Wakamatsu is the first Asian-American manager in MLB history, and he talked about beginning his career at the helm on a winning note:

"That was unbelievable. Griffey and the boys ... just kind of congratulated me and then gave me a little shower. Pretty special to go through spring training and then start the year off with a win like this."

Griffey noted after the game that he was looking forward to putting all of the preseason hype aside and just playing baseball:

"It's just one game. Hopefully we can put all that stuff behind us and play good baseball from here out."

As Griffey noted ‘it’s just one game’, but Franklin Gutierrez gave Seattle fans reasons to be optimistic this season with his postgame comment:

"The chemistry on this team is unbelievable.”

Seattle will play three more in Minnesota before heading to Oakland for a three game set against the A’s.  Griffey and the Mariners will make their home debut on April 14^th when they open a three game series against the Los Angeles Angels.  After their series with Seattle, Minnesota will head to Chicago for a three game set against the White Sox before returning home for a series against the Toronto Blue Jays.