Hayden Penn made sure a pair of early runs didn't ruin his first start of the season. He also made sure the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles didn't leave QVC Marine Field with a season-opening three-game sweep.
Penn recovered from a shaky start on the mound and the Chiba Lotte Marines' hitters took advantage of a porous Eagles bullpen in a 5-2 victory on Thursday afternoon.
"The first win is always tough," Penn said. "If you lose the first two games, three games into the season and you're already pressing. So it was good to get a win at home in front of our fans and we should get it going moving forward."