Boone's homer gives M's sweep

On Tuesday, he matched up with Boston's Derek Lowe, against whom he was 0-for-11. He bunted in a third-inning at-bat, then finally broke through with a double off Lowe his next time up.

Then came last night. It might have been a good night to give Boone a day off, because Oakland's starter, Mark Redman, has always muzzled him. Boone had just one hit in 13 career at-bats against Redman.

So what does it say that he broke through against Redman, too, with a third-inning single and a game-winning eighth-inning homer? Boone's homer, his 14th of the season and his third in four games, gave the Mariners a 4-2 win over Oakland and a sweep of their two-game series.

Does it mean Boone is back? Can two game-winning homers in a week do that?

Well, no.

"I've hit some nemeses this week," Boone said, breaking into a little smile. "So, yes, I'm starting to feel a little better.

"But I'm not going to say I'm feeling like my old self. My consistency is getting a little better. And sooner or later, it's going to come."

That would be excellent news for the Mariners, because, as promising as some of the new call-ups from Tacoma are, kids are kids and it helps to have some experience around them.

Last night's offense was all about experience. Designated hitter Edgar Martinez singled home two runs in the first inning. Then, after Bobby Crosby of the A's tied it with a homer in the sixth off starter Ryan Franklin, it was anybody's game. In the first three months of the season, that wouldn't have been good news for the Mariners. In the past week or so, however, Seattle is playing with more verve.

Crosby created an opportunity for the Mariners when he bobbled a Randy Winn grounder with one out in the eighth and Redman still in the game. With Boone apparently heating up from a first-half freeze and the left-handed Redman sitting on 100 pitches, normally the thought would be to look to right-handed bullpen help.

The trouble is, the A's guy for the eighth inning is sidearm throwing Chad Bradford, and Boone is a career .600 hitter against Bradford. It made more than a little sense for A's manager Ken Macha to stick with Redman, who had history on his side.

History, however, is a tricky little devil and will stick its nose out at you any old time. For Redman, that time was about to arrive.

Redman missed with a pitch, then had Boone foul off his next serve. After the count got to 2-1, Redman threw a changeup that Boone jumped all over, sending it soaring out to right-center.

"I made the pitch I wanted to make," said Redman, adding he'd gotten Boone out many times over the years with the same pitch. "Unfortunately, he just beat me on it. If I could make that pitch 10 more times, I'd throw the same pitch."

He may get a chance next week. The Mariners and the A's match up for three games in Oakland, and Redman is due to get another start.

Boone will be waiting. He's got a long season of frustration to vent, and he's not choosy about who his targets are.

That one swing last night, or anything that has happened this week, is going to redeem Boone's season. He's still hitting just .244, and while he's the team leader in RBIs, 45 isn't a big number 94 games into the season.

The same is true for Martinez, second on the team with 43 RBIs and averaging just .247.

The difference is that Martinez doesn't have the guarantee he'll be in the lineup every day the way Boone does. The Mariners don't have a replacement on the horizon at second base, but the combination of first baseman Bucky Jacobsen and third baseman Justin Leone from Tacoma has cut Martinez's playing time.

Last night was just the second time in five games Martinez was in the starting lineup. That made his two-run single a bit more special.

"Any contribution feels good; they all feel good," Martinez said. "And in this situation, a hit like that feels a little better."

With the Mariners in flux, there is a chance Boone could be gone with the trade deadline of July 31 approaching fast. It's different for Martinez. Being a Seattle icon, he would have to want to be traded before a deal would be put together.

The only thing that could force the issue is time on the bench, and for the moment, that's exactly what Martinez is getting.

Martinez said he hasn't come to a decision about whether or not he wants to leave Seattle, the only club he's ever played for. He clearly has a preference to stay put. But if he's not going to play, that could alter the equation.

"At this point, I just want to give myself some time to think about it," Martinez said. "It's going to be a while yet."

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