SEATTLE -- Corey Hart clubbed two home runs to propel the Mariners to a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the Angels on Tuesday's Opening Night at Safeco Field, but the win was dampened by an injury that sidelined starting pitcher James Paxton.
Paxton held a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth when the promising rookie southpaw was taken out of the game with what preliminary reports indicated was a strained lat muscle behind his left shoulder.
With Hart going deep twice -- a three-run shot in the third inning and a solo blast in the seventh -- the Mariners hung on for the victory to improve to 5-2 on the season, including four straight against the Angels.
 
Hart homers twice as Mariners win home opener over Angels
 
Relievers Yoervis Medina, Danny Farquhar, Tom Wilhelmsen and Fernando Rodney held the Angels hitless for the final four frames to preserve Paxton's win in front of a sellout crowd of 45,661, though Rodney had to dig in after walking the first two batters in the ninth to record his second save.
The 25-year-old Paxton is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA this year and 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in six Major League starts.
Hart signed this year as a free agent after missing all of 2013 following microfracture surgeries on both knees while with the Brewers. He now has three home runs and five RBIs in five games. It was the 15th multihomer game of Hart's career, but first since Sept. 29, 2012.
Seattle swept the Halos in a three-game series in Anaheim to open the year and got off to a successful home start now behind Hart's healthy home debut.
The new designated hitter capped a four-run outburst in the third inning with a majestic shot to left field off Angels southpaw Hector Santiago, who is now 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA after two starts against Seattle.
Hart then drove a Fernando Salas pitch over the center field wall with two out in the seventh.
Things didn't start or end nearly as well for Paxton. The fireworks from pregame ceremonies had barely died down when the Angels provided some of their own with back-to-back first-inning homers by Albert Pujols and David Freese.
Pujols drove a 1-0 fastball over the out-of-town scoreboard in left field for a two-run shot and Freese followed with a blast to straight center on an 0-1 changeup. The three runs snapped Paxton's 16-inning scoreless streak dating back to last year.
But Paxton settled in and retired 14 straight batters before Kole Calhoun led off the sixth with a single. Paxton then had a 1-0 count on Mike Trout when trainer Rob Nodine and manager Lloyd McClendon hustled out to the mound and removed him after a brief conversation.
First baseman Justin Smoak went 2-for-4 with a double and his team-leading ninth RBI and is batting .321.
Robinson Cano scored a run after walking in the third, but his six-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 night in his home debut.
Greg Johns / MLB.com
 

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