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Sixth sense Boone, Ichiro lead Mariners past woeful White Sox
Updated: Wednesday May 16, 2001 4:07 AM
SEATTLE (AP) -- Bret Boone and Ichiro Suzuki did the job at the plate and in the field for the Seattle Mariners. Boone went 3-for-3 with a homer and a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to 20 games as Seattle won its sixth straight game, 4-3 over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. "You have to love the home runs, but I managed to do my job by getting us the lead with the fly ball in the seventh inning," Boone said. "When we give our bullpen the lead, we expect to win." It wasn't easy. The White Sox put two runners on in the eighth inning before Jeff Nelson (2-0) came on and struck out Carlos Lee, and couldn't score in the ninth despite two doubles and a single. Josh Paul led off the ninth with a drive into the right-field corner against Arthur Rhodes. Suzuki fired to Boone, who relayed the ball to third baseman Mark McLemore to get Paul at third base. "Josh is a very aggressive, young player, but his mistakes right now are costly," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "Hopefully he's learning from his mistakes." Boone said that when he heard the Safeco Field crowd getting louder, he knew that Paul was trying for third.
"I was surprised he was going," Boone said, "but Ichiro gave me the perfect throw. I just turned and threw a strike of my own to complete the play. Our team just continues to play fundamentally sound baseball." The White Sox then put runners on second and third with two outs, but Jose Paniagua came on and struck out Lee for his first save. Mariners manager Lou Piniella opted not to use closer Kazuhiro Sasaki for the save. He was giving the league's saves leader a night of rest. "Kazu has pitched a lot this season and we decided to give him the night off," Piniella said. "We have other pitchers who can do the job and they did it tonight. He'll be available on Wednesday" With the game tied at 3, the Mariners rallied in the seventh. Edgar Martinez drew a leadoff walk from Bobby Howry (2-1) and went to third on John Olerud's single. Boone then hit a sacrifice fly to center. "Boone fought off a couple pitches until he got the one he wanted," Piniella said. "He just lifted it to center and brought home the eventual winning run. He's doing a great job for us." Boone also singled in the second, doubled in the fourth and hit a solo homer in the sixth. "Bret Boone had a good game against us and they did what they needed to do to win," White Sox catcher Sandy Alomar said. Seattle (29-9) won for the third time in four games this season against Chicago. The Mariners swept the White Sox in the first round of the playoffs last year. Suzuki, a seven-time batting champion in Japan, went 2-for-5 with an RBI single to extend the longest hitting streak in the majors this season and raise his average to .362. Seattle starter Aaron Sele, going for his sixth straight win to open the season, allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. Sele allowed back-to-back homers in the first to Jose Valentin and Lee to get in a 2-0 hole, and a solo shot to Jeff Liefer in the seventh. Valentin has 10 homers, including four in the past four games. Suzuki singled and scored on a groundout by Martinez in the bottom half. "It seems like Ichiro gets a hit in the first inning every night," Boone said. "We're all sitting in the dugout and we just start laughing when he gets the hit. He gets the ball rolling for us every time." After Boone's homer tied it in the sixth, Suzuki hit an RBI single to give Seattle a 3-2 lead. Notes: White Sox LHP Jim Parque (partially torn rotator cuff) and DH Frank Thomas (tear in right triceps) had season-ending surgery on Tuesday, but the club expects a full recovery for both players. ... Chicago RHP Sean Lowe was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. ... The Mariners have won all nine games in which Sele has started this season. ... Suzuki has a hit in 36 of 38 games this season. ... Nelson hasn't allowed a hit all season to the first batter he's faced. First batters are 0-for-18 with one walk against him.
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