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.