A’s Zito Does a Number on the Mariners

Barry Zito held the Seattle Mariners hitless into the sixth inning as the Oakland Athletics won, 5-1, Tuesday night at Seattle.

Zito (1-0), making his 15th career start, gave up Mike Cameron’s single up the middle for Seattle’s first hit with two outs in the sixth. In seven innings, he gave up three singles and walked four, with a wild pitch and five strikeouts.

Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle’s new leadoff hitter and a seven-time batting champion in Japan, was 0 for 3 with a strikeout against Zito.

Miguel Tejada’s grand slam in the third off John Halama (0-1) gave Zito a 4-0 lead. Tejada’s 413-foot shot over the center-field fence came after singles by Jose Ortiz and Jason Giambi, and a walk to Eric Chavez.

The Athletics, who lost on opening night to the Mariners, 5-4, made it 5-0 and knocked out Halama in the fourth on a double by Adam Piatt and Johnny Damon’s RBI single.

The Mariners scored their only run in the eighth off reliever Jeff Tam on John Olerud’s sacrifice fly.

Zito, 22, had a 7-4 record with a 2.72 earned-run average in 14 starts as a rookie for the A’s last season.

Tampa Bay 8, Toronto 1--Albie Lopez scattered seven hits over eight innings, and Ben Grieve had a two-run triple in his Tampa Bay debut in the Devil Rays’ season-opening victory at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lopez, who began last season in the bullpen, walked three and struck out six to move past Rolando Arrojo for the most victories in Devil Rays’ history with 22.

Shannon Stewart’s second homer of the season, a solo shot in the third, accounted for the Blue Jays’ run.

Grieve, acquired from Oakland in a three-team trade over the winter, went one for four. His triple off Pedro Borbon keyed a four-run fifth that broke the game open.

Minnesota 3, Detroit 2--Brad Radke limited the Tigers to one run in eight innings and David Ortiz homered to lead the Twins at Detroit.

Before a capacity crowd of 40,104, Detroit’s Jeff Weaver pitched a six-hitter and struck out four for his third complete game in 60 career starts. Jack Morris had pitched the Tigers’ last opening-day complete game and it also was a loss, 4-0, to Texas in 1989.

Radke, starting a four-year, $36-million contract, allowed his only run on Bobby Higginson’s run-scoring double in the fourth.