The Seattle Mariners offense seems to be built for the thin air in Denver as they got out the bats at Coors Field to open their three-game series versus the Colorado Rockies.

Early on, the Mariners offense looked unstoppable. In the first inning, Seattle plated four runs all with two outs. It started with a Robinson Cano RBI single that scored Kyle Seager to open the scoring. A few batters later, the comeback of Jesus Montero continued as he clubbed a two-run double, directly followed by a Brad Miller RBI single.

The Mariners weren't quite done yet, however. In the second inning, Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz clubbed back-to-back home runs to make it 6-1. Then in the third, Brad Miller hit a solo shot and the Mariners were looking good up 7-1.

It was a tough outing for Rockies starter Eddie Butler, who lasted just four innings giving up seven runs on seven hits with just two strikeouts and one walk.

The Rockies were going up against Felix Hernandez, but they weren't backing down from the challenge versus the King.

They did get one in the first off of Hernandez behind a Jose Reyes RBI single in his home debut for his new club after coming over in the blockbuster from Toronto.

Then in the fourth inning, Drew Stubbs hit a pinch-hit single which was later followed by another Reyes RBI single to cut the lead to 7-3. Later, they tacked on one more in the sixth behind a Charlie Blackmon RBI double to make it 7-4.

Hernandez's final line was not all too shabby. The King lasted 6.2 innings giving up four runs on 11 hits, while striking out nine and walking just one.

In the seventh, Seattle tacked on an insurance run, a run that proved to be very important, when Robby Cano hit an RBI double to right to score Seager and make it 8-4.

The Mariners have had some issues lately in the ninth inning, and that is where it got interesting.

It started with Ben Paulsen. Paulsen hit a two-run double to left scoring Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez to make it 8-6. That was followed by a Nick Hundley RBI single to make it 8-7.

With runners on the corners and one out, Carson Smith had to battle to close it out. He struck out Michael McKenry for the second out and then got Charlie Blackmon to fly out to center to close out the win. The Mariners sure aren't making it easy on themselves with their bullpen.

Seattle's offense really thrived in the thin air of Colorado as they tallied 12 hits, but even though they came up a run short, the Rockies had 18 hits in this ballgame. Blackmon for Colorado led his side with a 4-for-6 night and an RBI. As for the Mariners, Seager, Cruz and Miller all tallied a home run and each had a 3-for-4 night. In addition, Cruz hit his 30th home run on the season.

The Mariners captured the first game of this three-game interleague series, and it will continue Tuesday in Denver with Vidal Nuno getting a spot start for Seattle against Rockies top prospect Jon Gray.

WP: Felix Hernandez (13-6, 3.13 ERA)

LP: Eddie Butler (3-8, 5.45 ERA)

SV: Carson Smith (10 saves, 2.93 ERA)