White Sox Sink Mariners In 9th

How well are things going for the Chicago White Sox?

Frank Thomas went 0-for-11 in the series against the Seattle Mariners and the surprising AL Central leaders took two out of three.

"We're not a one-man show anymore," said Thomas after the White Sox got a tiebreaking double from Herbert Perry in the ninth inning Wednesday, leading to a 4-3 victory over the Mariners.

Thomas is hitting .332 after going 0-for-4 in the series finale. In the eighth inning, he backed up center fielder Mike Cameron to the fence 405 feet from home plate. He felt he had his 11th homer of the season.

Carlos Lee reached second with one out in the ninth when third baseman John Mabry allowed the ball to go under his glove for a two-base error.

Perry followed with a ground-rule double to right off Kazuhiro Sazaki (1-4).

Going into June, the Cleveland Indians are still chasing the White Sox.

"When you're on top, everyone is watching you," Thomas said. "And that's a good thing."

Bob Howry (1-1) pitched 1 2-3 hitless innings and Keith Foulke, Chicago's fifth pitcher, got three outs for his 10th save in 11 opprtunities. Foulke, who pitched two innings in a 2-1 win Tuesday night, has allowed one earned run in his last 25 innings and has a 0.79 ERA for the season.

"I think you call it experience," said Foulke, 27, who came to the White Sox in July 1997 in the trade that sent Roberto Hernandez to San Francisco. "I'm concentrating on every pitch now."

Seattle's Aaron Sele allowed three runs and three hits in 6 1-3 innings. Cal Eldred gave up three runs, five hits and seven walks which matched his career high in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out nine.

"That was definitely not the way to start a game," Eldred said. "It puts a big smile on your face when you start out like that and you win a game. It seems like we don't win the same way necessarily every time and that's a good sign."

Chicago manager Jerry Manuel missed the game to attend son Anthony's high school graduation in Chicago and bench coach Joe Nossek managed in his place.

"You always enjoy managing a game when it comes out with the right score," said Nossek, who managed the White Sox to a 3-5 record when Manuel was suspended for his team's fight with Detroit. "I think we're all happy to keep it together until when Jerry gets back."

Seattle went ahead in the first when Eldred walked Mark McLemore, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez and Mike Cameron.

Tom Lampkin homered in the second, but Carlos Lee cut it to 2-1 in the third when he homered for the third consecutive game, his 12th of the season.

John Olerud had an RBI single in the fifth, but Chicago tied it in the seventh when Chris Singleton singled, Herbert Perry was hit by a pitch and Sele threw a wild pitch, and pinch-hitter Brook Fordyce hit a two-run single off Arthur Rhodes.

Fordyce was 1-for-14 sinc returning for the White Sox last week after missing 43 games with a broken bone in his left foot.

"Of course, this feels good," Fordyce said. "You're sitting on the bench watching the guys battle all day and then you get a chance to help your team."

The Mariners left a season-high 15 men on base, one shy of their team record, and were 0-for-5 with a walk with the bases loaded.

Notes