Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Mariners put the No. 19 in the "5.5 hole" on the infield dirt between the shortstop and third base, where Tony Gwynn collected many of his 3,141 career hits.

It was a touching tribute to Gwynn, who passed away at the age of 54 on Monday.

As for the game, Kyle Seager smacked a three-run homer and the Mariners beat the San Diego Padres, 5-1, in the opener of a four-game, home-and-home set.

San Diego hung Gwynn's No. 19 jersey in its dugout and wore black arm bands on its uniforms to commemorate him.

"Even though we're away from San Diego, I think the Mariners did a good job of putting Tony out there," Padres manager Bud Black said.

Gwynn had battled salivary gland cancer, the result of his longtime use of chewing tobacco. He had surgery to remove a malignant tumor in 2009 and again in 2012.

A career .338 hitter, Gwynn was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, having been selected on 97.6 percent of ballots. He won eight National League batting titles and earned 15 All-Star selections.

Gwynn batted better than .350 seven times, including a career-best .394 during the strike-shortened 1994 season. He never hit below .309 in a full season and finished his career with 3,141 hits.

Gwynn helped the Padres to a pair of World Series appearances -- first in 1984 and again in 1998.

Chris Young (6-4) struck out six and scattered four hits and walked one over six scoreless innings against his former team as Seattle won its second straight on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

"Any fun about pitching against them disappeared this morning with the news of Tony passing," Young said.

Brad Miller whacked a solo shot in the triumph.

Tyson Ross (6-6) surrendered five runs on seven hits and seven walks over 5 2/3 frames for San Diego, which has dropped seven of its last eight contests. Carlos Quentin homered in defeat.

Seattle plated three runs in the first and two more in the second to jump ahead.

Endy Chavez led off the first with a single, James Jones bunted into a force out and Robinson Cano walked before Seager cracked a 3-0 pitch into the seats in right for his three-run shot.

Miller launched his solo blast down the right-field line with one out in the second, and Cano added an RBI double later in the frame to give the Mariners their five-run cushion.

Quentin cracked a solo shot in the ninth to get San Diego on the board.

Game Notes

After his playing career ended in 2001, Gwynn returned to his alma mater at San Diego State and had been the head baseball coach since 2003. He was on medical leave since March and had just signed a contract extension with the Aztecs last week ... Seattle was 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while San Diego was 0-for-8 with RISP.