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SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Bret Boone homered in the sixth inning before snapping a seventh-inning tie with a sacrifice fly as the Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Boone knotted the contest, 2-2, in the sixth with his seventh home run of the season. With the game tied, 3-3, in the seventh, the second baseman drove the ball to deep center field off Bob Howry (2-1) on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, allowing Edgar Martinez to score the go-ahead run. Rookie Ichiro Suzuki, who extended his major league-leading hitting streak to 20 games with a leadoff single in the first inning, smacked a two-out, run-scoring single in the sixth to put Seattle in front 3-2. The seven-time Japanese League batting champion is 11-for-17 this season with two outs and runners in scoring position. Jeff Nelson (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Arthur Rhodes and Jose Paniagua, who recorded his first save of the season, held the White Sox in check thereafter. Mariners manager Lou Pinella opted to rest closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who leads the major leagues with 17 saves. "We decided in Toronto we weren't going to use him on Tuesday," Pinella said. "We can't use him in every game. It's only the middle of May and we've already used him in 21 games and, besides, we have other guys out there who can do the job." Boone and Suzuki combined to keep Chicago's leadoff man off the base in the bottom of the ninth inning. Josh Paul doubled to the corner in right field, saw right fielder Suzuki slip on the turf and headed for third. "I didn't think he was going to go for three and my back was to the plate and all I heard was the crowd kind of getting excited and that told me he's going," Boone said. Displaying his great arm once again, Suzuki fired a strike to Boone on the infield dirt. The second baseman pivoted and fired to Mark McLemore, who tagged Paul as he slid into third. "I thought I had a chance for third, I was being aggressive," Paul said. "I guess they made two perfect throws. What can I say? I went for it and it didn't work out." "Two good throws and we got him and I'm glad he went," Boone said. "Without a doubt that was a big play. Ichy slipped, but two good throws and we get him." Chicago hit three solo home runs off Mariners starter Aaron Sele, who had not allowed three homers in a game since August 2, 1997. "I gave them up at the right time and I gave them up the right way," Sele said. With the White Sox trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Jeff Liefer knotted the contest with his first major league home run. Chicago got off to a great start. After Ray Durham flied out to center field to lead off the first inning, Jose Valentin and Carlos Lee homered in consecutive at-bats to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead. "I was thinking, gee, Safeco Field, you can't hit home runs here," said Sele of allowing the first-inning blasts. "You just got to come out and make better quality pitches and I was able to do that. I got in a nice groove. The only thing I was unhappy about was the home run I gave up in the seventh. After you get the lead, that's something you just don't do." Chicago starter Mark Buehrle kept his team in the game, allowing three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three. "Each time out, Mark's given us a chance to win the ballgame," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "We've struggled to score runs when he's pitching. We didn't win it but fortunately for him he didn't happen to get the loss. But he's pitched well." The White Sox lost for the third time in their last five games.
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