John Henry Johnson, who hurled in Class A last year, won his first major league start as the A's edged the Mariners, 1-0, in their home opener. The only run came in the first inning when Miguel Dilone doubled, went to third on an infield out and scored on Gary Alexander's single. Dave Heaverlo pitched the last three innings to record the save.

Johnson, Alexander and Heaverlo all came to the A's in the Vida Blue trade. The crowd of 17,283 was a surprise as tickets weren't made available until five days prior to the game and no more than 5,000 were expected. [The Sporting News]

Oakland Athletics 1, Seattle Mariners 0

Game Played on Monday, April 10, 1978 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 1 A's 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x - 1 6 1 Mariners AB R H RBI BB SO AVG A's AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Cruz 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Dilone lf 4 1 3 0 0 0 .313 Braun ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Thomasson rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .063 Baez 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 Armas cf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Bochte lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .318 Murphy cf 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Roberts rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .286 North ph,cf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .100 Stanton dh 3 0 1 0 0 1 .250 Alexander dh 2 0 1 1 2 0 .250 Milbourne pr,dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Revering 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Hale ph,dh 1 0 0 0 0 1 .200 Essian c 2 0 1 0 2 1 .273 Ruppert Jones cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .353 Gross 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .063 Stein 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .048 Guerrero ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .429 Meyer 1b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .143 Staggs 2b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .273 Pasley c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Johnson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Stinson ph,c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .357 Heaverlo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Reynolds ss 2 0 1 0 1 0 .308 Abbott p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Montague p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rawley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 26 0 3 0 5 3 Totals 29 1 6 1 6 4 Time of Game: 2:19 Attendance: 17,283 Left on Base: Mariners 5, A's 10 DP: Mariners 1, A's 2 Errors: Roberts, Essian Doubles: Dilone (2) Stolen Bases: Dilone 2 (3) Caught Stealing: Reynolds (1) Sacrifice Hits: Ruppert Jones (1) GIDP: Stein (3), Bochte (2), Alexander (1) Mariners IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Abbott L(1-1) 4.1 5 1 1 3 2 0 21 2.53 Montague 1.2 1 0 0 2 0 0 7 5.40 Rawley 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 7 0.00 Totals 8 6 1 1 6 4 0 35 A's IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Johnson W(1-0) 6 2 0 0 4 2 0 23 0.00 Heaverlo SV(2) 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 9 0.00 Totals 9 3 0 0 5 3 0 32 Umpires: HP - Steve Palermo, 1B - Don Denkinger, 2B - Dave Phillips, 3B - Larry McCoy MARINERS 1ST: Cruz popped to first; Debut game for John Henry Johnson; Bochte walked; Roberts singled [Bochte to second, Roberts out at first (first unassisted)]; Stanton struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 1ST: Dilone doubled; Dilone stole third; Thomasson grounded out (pitcher to first); Armas grounded out (second to first); Alexander singled [Dilone scored]; Revering singled [Alexander to second]; Essian walked [Alexander to third, Revering to second]; Gross struck out; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 2ND: MURPHY REPLACED ARMAS (PLAYING CF); Ruppert Jones lined to pitcher; Stein flied out to right; Meyer grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 2ND: Guerrero flied out to center; Staggs grounded out (third to first); Dilone grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 3RD: Pasley flied out to center; Reynolds walked; Reynolds was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Cruz popped to catcher; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 3RD: Thomasson popped to first; Murphy grounded out (pitcher to first); Alexander walked; Revering forced Alexander (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 4TH: Bochte struck out; Roberts grounded out (third to first); Stanton grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 4TH: Essian singled; Gross grounded out (second to first) [Essian to second]; Guerrero grounded out (shortstop to first); Staggs grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 5TH: Ruppert Jones popped to first; Stein walked; Meyer flied out to right; Pasley forced Stein (second to shortstop); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 5TH: Dilone singled; Dilone stole second; Thomasson struck out; Murphy walked; MONTAGUE REPLACED ABBOTT (PITCHING); Alexander grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Murphy out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 6TH: Reynolds flied out to left; Cruz flied out to center; Bochte grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 6TH: Revering grounded out (second to first); Essian walked; Gross grounded out (second to first) [Essian to second]; Guerrero flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 7TH: Roberts walked; Stanton singled [Roberts to second]; MILBOURNE RAN FOR STANTON; Ruppert Jones reached on an error by Essian on a sacrifice bunt [Roberts to third, Milbourne to second, Ruppert Jones to first]; HEAVERLO REPLACED JOHNSON (PITCHING); Stein grounded into a double play (pitcher to catcher to first) [Milbourne to third, Ruppert Jones to second, Roberts out at home]; Meyer was walked intentionally; STINSON BATTED FOR PASLEY; Stinson made an out to second; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 7TH: MILBOURNE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); STINSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Staggs walked; Dilone singled to right [Staggs to third, Dilone to second (error by Roberts)]; RAWLEY REPLACED MONTAGUE (PITCHING); Thomasson struck out; NORTH BATTED FOR MURPHY; North reached on a fielder's choice [Staggs out at home (pitcher to catcher), Dilone to third, North to second]; Alexander was walked intentionally; Revering flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 8TH: NORTH STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Reynolds singled; BRAUN BATTED FOR CRUZ; Braun flied out to left; Bochte grounded into a double play (first to shortstop to first) [Reynolds out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 8TH: BAEZ REPLACED BRAUN (PLAYING 2B); Essian struck out; Gross grounded out (first to pitcher); Guerrero flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1. MARINERS 9TH: Roberts grounded out (pitcher to first); HALE BATTED FOR MILBOURNE; Hale struck out; Ruppert Jones flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Athletics 1.

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