White Sox Rally Past Mariners

Fair or foul? Alex Rodriguez thought it was fair. Lou Piniella couldn't tell. The umpires, after a discussion, were sure it hooked to the foul side of the pole. And their ruling is all that mattered.

Rodriguez's long drive to left, a potential game-tying homer in the seventh inning, was foul, and he went on to ground out as the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2 Wednesday.

Third base umpire Fielding Culbreth made the foul call. Rodriguez protested and Piniella came out of the dugout to make sure Culbreth checked with his fellow umps. He did and the ruling stood.

"The ball hooked a lot and I couldn't tell from the dugout, either. It would have been fair on a normal day by a good margin, but that wind really got it and hooked it."

In a game delayed twice by rain and with a 10 mph wind blowing across Comiskey Park, Chicago took a 4-2 lead in the fifth when Carlos Lee hit a two-run single after Seattle starter Gil Meche (0-1) walked the bases loaded.

After Stan Javier doubled in the seventh, Rodriguez who had three homers Sunday against Toronto drove a long shot to left.

"The strong wind was unpredictable. I didn't think it would even be close, I just can't believe the way that ball hooked," Rodriguez said.
Third base coach Larry Bowa also argued that the ball was fair.

After his initial ruling and after Piniella came out,, Culbreth met with plate umpire Bill Welke, second base ump Mike Winters and first base ump Bruce Froemming. The call stood. Television replays were inconclusive.

"I asked him if he had it foul and he's got it foul and it's a foul ball," Froemming said.

"Lou said` 'Ask somebody' to Cubby (Culbreth) right away. Cubby's got a foul ball and then it's a foul ball. It was a very short discussion. Cubby had the play all the way. It wasn't hard to see and he was right on the money."

Did White Sox manager Jerry Manuel think the call was going to be reversed?

"No," he said with a smile. "I was, I guess, ready to go (argue)."

Rodriguez eventually grounded out after an at-bat against reliever Keith Foulke that featured nine foul balls, including another long drive to left. Edgar Martinez walked but John Oledrud hit into a first-to-short-to-pitcher double play to end the inning.

The White Sox made it 5-2 on a bloop double by Magglio Ordonez and RBI single by Paul Konerko in the bottom of seventh.

Lee has hit in 12 of the White Sox's 14 games this season and is tied for the team RBI lead with 16. Four of Chicago's runs Wednesday were produced by two-out hits.

"We are just more patient and swinging at good pitches," Lee explained. "The weather today was funny and cold. We did a good job of getting the two-out RBIs."

Sean Lowe (1-0) got the victory with 2 1-3 innings after replacing starter Scott Eyre. Bob Howry pitched the ninth for his first save.

Jay Buhner hit a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead in the second.

The White Sox tied it in the third, loading the bases on a single by Josh Paul, double by Ray Durham and an error on third baseman David Bell, who didn't catch Jose Valentin's high pop.

Frank Thomas hit into a double play with Paul scoring. After Ordonez walked, Konerko hit an RBI single.

Buhner was ejected by Welke after being called out on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth. Buhner protested the inside corner pitch from Lowe and drew a line with his bat in the dirt before he was tossed.

Notes