The Seattle Mariners brought out the bats tonight to beat the San Diego Padres in the first game of a two-game series at Safeco Field in Seattle. All nine starters for the Mariners had at least one hit and it started from the very beginning. 

In the bottom of the first, Seattle jumped all over Padres starter Ian Kennedy right from the get go. Brad Miller hit a ground rule double which was followed by a Robinson Cano RBI double. Two batters later, Kyle Seager hit a three-run shot to right field to put the Mariners up, 4-0, before San Diego could even blink.

The Mariners weren't going to stop there, however. A pair of solo shots, one by Logan Morrison in the third and one by Mike Zunino in the sixth, had Seattle up, 6-0, against a very potent San Diego offense. Kennedy could only make it 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out five. Not the best outing for the Padres right hander.

James Paxton had another good outing for the Mariners as he tossed six shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks while striking out five more. The walks are what really stifled what could have been an even better performance for the Mariners big southpaw. He had some trouble with two out walks and getting off of the field in those situations, but nonetheless, it was a great outing.

After Nelson Cruz singled home Chris Taylor to make it 7-0 in the sixth, the Padres had a bit of an answer for the Mariners bullpen in the seventh. Danny Farquhar loaded the bases and then Matt Kemp hit a grounder to shortstop that was booted by Taylor which was followed by a two-RBI single by Yangervis Solarte to make it 7-3. It was another minor letdown from this Mariners bullpen that has been very shaky in the early going in 2015.

Mike Zunino went deep for a second time, a two-run shot, in the seventh which was followed by a solo shot by Justin Ruggiano, his first as a member of the Mariners. Nelson Cruz wanted in on the home run action and hit a solo shot in the eighth. Derek Norris had an RBI double in the ninth that made it 11-4 and that was all she wrote on this night.

Seattle hit at least five home runs for the first time since May 30th, 2013 at San Diego and the first time at Safeco Field since June 6th, 2006 versus Minnesota. They finished the night with six blasts.

The short two-game series concludes Wednesday night at Safeco Field with James Shields for San Diego facing off against Taijuan Walker for Seattle.

WP: James Paxton (1-2, 4.31 ERA)

LP: Ian Kennedy (2-2, 5.92 ERA)