Colon spoils Mariners' opener as A's win

Seattle, WA – Bartolo Colon spoiled the Mariners' home opener on Friday, tossing seven scoreless innings for the Athletics in a 4-0 win at Safeco Field.

Colon (2-1) allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out five in the opener of this three-game series.

"He gave a different look today, like a veteran guy he made some adjustments," said Oakland manager Bob Melvin. "He's calm on the mound and we feel calm around him. If you have someone out there who's nervous and fidgety, the rest of the team feels it."

Jemile Weeks hit a solo homer while Coco Crisp, Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington added an RBI apiece for the Athletics, who just took two of three from the Royals for their first series win of the season.

Felix Hernandez (1-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out six over seven innings. The Mariners have dropped four of their last five games.

"He had to battle all night tonight. It says a lot about him when you've got to battle like that and you give up two runs in seven (innings)," said Seattle manager Eric Wedge. "He didn't have his best stuff, but he just doesn't give into it. That's what we saw tonight."

The A's took a 2-0 lead when Pennington doubled home Daric Barton in the third and crossed the plate two batters later on Crisp's RBI single.

In the fourth, singles by Ichiro Suzuki and Jesus Montero placed runners at the corners with two away, but Michael Saunders struck out after narrowly missing a home run with a long foul ball.

Colon set Seattle down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh and Suzuki made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Ryan Cook spelled Colon in the home half and walked Miguel Olivio and Brendan Ryan to start the frame before inducing Chone Figgins into a 1-6-3 double play and grounding out Dustin Ackley.

In the ninth, Weeks homered and Grant Balfour set the Mariners down in order to seal the win.

Game Notes

The Athletics collected nine hits in the win. They have recorded less than 10 hits in all eight games this season, which marks their longest streak since an eight-game span to start the 2001 campaign...Montero has recorded a hit in seven of eight games as a Mariner...Former center fielder Mike Cameron officially retired as a member of the Mariners on Friday. Cameron, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game, had signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals for the 2012 season, but announced his retirement before spring training.