Boone, Franklin lead Mariners past White Sox
SEATTLE — It hasn’t been a lot of fun lately being Bret Boone.
Boone refuses to make excuses for his season-long hitting slump, but he could compile a long list. He hasn’t felt good in weeks because of a strained hip flexor that has destroyed his sense of a good swing. The recent illness of his grandfather and hospitalization of his pregnant wife have complicated his mind further, although he says Ray Boone is doing better in San Diego after suffering a stroke, and so is Suzi Boone, who is due to deliver twins next month.
Bret Boone won’t lean on excuses, just as he hesitates to say his problems are over, although his role Saturday in the Seattle Mariners’ 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox indicated otherwise.
Boone hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie, crushing a pitch 438 feet into the second deck beyond the left field fence at Safeco Field. “I don’t want to over-analyze this,” Boone said. “It was a nice win. I had some good at-bats. Go get them tomorrow.”
Boone’s homer, his ninth this season, was his first since May 28. Since then he’d fallen into an 0-for-20 stretch that ended Friday with a seventh-inning single. Saturday, he went 1 for 2 but walked twice, further indication that he’s feeling better at the plate.
“He’s been struggling with getting comfortable and getting a good swing,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But we’re starting to see much better swings.” The one in the fifth inning was his best of the season, Boone said.
The Mariners and White Sox were tied 2-2 when Boone batted against left-hander Scott Schoeneweis with John Olerud on first base after a one-out walk. Schoeneweis threw a 2-2 fastball that got too much of the plate and Boone looked like himself again, becoming the first player to reach the upper deck in left field this season. Finally.
“When you’re going through bad stretches like this, it feels like every pitch is at the knees on the corner. And if it’s off the plate, it seems like they call it for a strike anyway,” Boone said. “When you’re going good, it seems like they miss over the plate all the time. It’s the nature of the game.”
Before the Mariners could celebrate not only the return of Boone, but also their 20th victory of the season, one bit of peril remained. The bullpen needed to finish what Ryan Franklin started so impressively. Franklin overcame a rough first inning, when the White Sox scored both their runs, and allowed just four hits through the seventh inning.
The Mariners tied the score with a run in the first inning on Edgar Martinez’s RBI double and one in the fourth when Ichiro Suzuki’s sacrifice fly pushed home Hiram Bocachica.
Melvin, who hasn’t found a consistently reliable right-handed reliever all season, decided to use J.J. Putz to start the eighth with the top of the White Sox order due up.
“I have confidence in all those guys, but we have to find the right guy for the day,” Melvin said. “I felt today the power arm was the one to go to.” It would have been, except Putz walked both hitters he faced, Willie Harris and Juan Uribe.
Melvin brought in right-hander Julio Mateo, who’s also had his good and bad times this season. Mateo wasn’t just good Saturday, he was spectacular, striking out Frank Thomas and getting Carlos Lee on a fly to left field.
Melvin didn’t wait any longer to bring in closer Eddie Guardado. Guardado walked pinch hitter Aaron Rowand to load the bases but got Paul Konerko on a pop foul that third baseman Willie Bloomquist caught near the White Sox dugout with a twisting backward lunge.
Guardado struck out Kelly Dransfeldt and Joe Crede in the ninth but walked Miguel Olivo. He got pinch hitter Jamie Burke on a popup to Boone at second base to end the game and record his 10th save.