ANAHEIM -- Felix Hernandez struck out 11 in another strong Opening Day performance on Monday at Angel Stadium as the Mariners rallied for a 10-3 victory over the Angels in manager Lloyd McClendon's debut.
The win was the Mariners' eighth straight on Opening Day, the longest streak in the Majors since the Reds won nine in a row from 1983-91. Not coincidentally, Hernandez has started seven of those games and is 5-0 with a 1.52 ERA after notching Monday's win.
Seattle blew the game open with six runs in the ninth that included a three-run homer by Justin Smoak and a three-run triple by Dustin Ackley. Smoak's shot to right field capped a 2-for-4 night that also included a double with three RBIs and three runs scored for the first baseman.
 
Mariners rout Angels 10-3 on opening day
 
Hernandez gave up a two-run home run to Mike Trout in the first inning, but settled in after that and finished with three runs (two earned) over six innings on four hits with one walk.
Seattle rallied for two runs off Angels starter Jered Weaver in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead and put Hernandez in position for the win, with Mike Zunino tying the game with an RBI triple and Abraham Almonte following with a go-ahead double.
Hernandez was replaced after throwing 103 pitches, but the Mariners needed three relievers to get through the seventh after Trout lined a single off Charlie Furbush's leg. Tom Wilhelmsen replaced Furbush with two on and two out and got Albert Pujols to line out to center to preserve the lead.
Hernandez became the first pitcher in Major League history to start seven Opening Day games before his 28th birthday. He broke Randy Johnson's club records with his seventh Opening Day start and his sixth in a row.
After Trout's homer, the Mariners got a run back in the second when Smoak led off with a double and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Michael Saunders.
Hernandez retired six in a row after Trout's homer until Erick Aybar reached on an error on third baseman Kyle Seager leading off the third. Pujols drove Aybar in with a two-out double over the head of Dustin Ackley in left field for a 3-1 lead. Hernandez then struck out eight of the final 11 batters he faced.
Seager smoked an RBI double high off the wall in right field in the sixth to cut the margin back to 3-2, but Logan Morrison was gunned down at the plate trying to score from first on the same play, ending that rally and keeping Hernandez a run down in his duel with Weaver.
But the Mariners kept pressuring Weaver and finally knocked him out with their two runs in the seventh, ending his night at 6 1/3 innings with six hits, four runs (three earned), three walks and six strikeouts.
Hernandez, who has now recorded double-digit strikeouts 27 times, is 9-13 in his career against the Halos with a 3.90 ERA in 36 career starts. Trout has hit .390 against Hernandez (16-for-41) with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
Robinson Cano got his first hit with the Mariners in the fourth inning with an infield single on a little squib-shot that rolled about 45 feet down the third-base line.
Greg Johns / MLB.com
 

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