A's look to stay focused against Ichiro in Japan

By JIM ARMSTRONG

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 4:44 a.m. ET March 24, 2012

TOKYO (AP) -The Oakland Athletics aren't bothered that Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners will be the crowd favorites when they open Major League Baseball's 2012 season in Japan.

Oakland's Kurt Suzuki has been in this position before when he played in a two-game season-opening series against the Boston Red Sox here in 2008. Daisuke Matsuzaka grabbed all the attention in that series just as Ichiro no doubt will this time around.

As if having Suzuki wasn't enough, the Mariners arrived in Japan with two more Japanese players - infielder Munenori Kawasaki and pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma.

But the A's catcher said his team just has to focus on the task at hand.

"Daisuke was with the Red Sox and we all knew what his track record was and we all know what Ichiro has done," Suzuki told a news conference on Saturday. "But we try to out there and have people talk about us after we perform. Our goal is to go out there and play the game right and not worry about all the other distractions."

Kawasaki was named to the Mariners' 30-man travel roster for the team's trip to Japan after impressing in spring training.

"Kawasaki had a great camp," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "He made a great impression on all of us, obviously he had to make the ball club and he's still with us along with Iwakuma and I'm sure they are both happy to be back in Japan as members of the Seattle Mariners."

Ichiro Suzuki hit his second home run of the spring on Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox. The Seattle outfielder is hitting .400 since moving to the third spot in the lineup this spring after batting leadoff for nearly all of his career.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin said he was expecting an evenly matched series between two teams that are looking to improve after disappointing results last season.

"We all know Seattle has a good club and it's a little different dynamic with Ichiro hitting in the third spot," Melvin said. "But they are similar to us, they have some news players, had a good spring and a lot of times you gain something from that going into the season confidence-wise so I think they are in the same boat as us."

The teams left their spring training homes in Arizona on Thursday and will return to Arizona in a week. They will play preseason games against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers on Sunday and Monday before the season-opening games on Wednesday and Thursday.

Oakland's Manny Ramirez did not make the trip. Ramirez must sit out the first 50 games for a second violation of MLB's drug policy, making him eligible to play his first game barring rainouts on May 30 - his 40th birthday.

This will be the fourth Japan opener, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay (2004), and Boston and Oakland (2008).

MLB and the players' association said the series also will aim to assist rebuilding in Japan following last year's earthquake. On Tuesday, a group of players will travel to Ishinomaki in the disaster-hit northeast region to conduct a baseball clinic.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46832002/ns/sports-baseball/

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