Moving from Baltimore to Seattle hasn't changed Erik Bedard's mastery of Tampa Bay. The left-hander, acquired in an offseason trade, struggled through six innings but got enough support from the Mariners' sputtering offense to ruin the Rays' home opener with a 6-5 win. Bedard (1-0) allowed five runs and five hits while improving to 11-3 in 19 career starts against Tampa Bay.
Richie Sexson drove in three runs, drawing a bases-loaded walk in the third and hitting a two-run single off Gary Glover (0-1) in the sixth. In both situations, the Rays walked Raul Ibanez intentionally to load the bases so they could pitch to Sexson. Brad Wilkerson also had a two-run single for the Mariners. (More baseball stories.)