Mariners 8, Red Sox 4, 11 innings

SEATTLE (AP) — The Boston Red Sox had a chance to gain ground on the New York Yankees in the AL East. Instead, they were beaten by another Boone.

Bret Boone hit a grand slam in the 11th inning, lifting the Seattle Mariners to an 8-4 victory over the Red Sox on Monday night. Last season, his brother, Aaron Boone, homered in the 11th inning against Boston in Game 7 of the AL championship series to put the Yankees in the World Series.

The Mariners tied it with one out in the ninth behind consecutive home runs from Miguel Olivo and Edgar Martinez.

”It's the worst game we've played all year,” the Red Sox's Johnny Damon said.

The Red Sox remained seven games behind the Yankees, 9-7 losers in Tampa Bay, in the AL East.

”This is a bad feeling,” Damon said. ”We shouldn't have been in this situation. We were just awful. There isn't much more you can say about it. Every game is important for us. We had a chance to pick up a game on the Yankees today and let it slip through our fingers.”

Boone hit his fifth career grand slam on an 0-1 count from Curtis Leskanic (1-5), the fifth Boston pitcher, a 392-foot shot into the Seattle bullpen in left field. The Mariners loaded the bases on a single by Olivo and walks to Dave Hansen and Randy Winn. Winn's walk was intentional.

Boone, hitting a paltry .233 at gametime, was 2-for-6 with six RBIs. His grand slam was the Mariners' first of the season.

The last-place Mariners won their second straight game, but are 21 games under .500 and are 17 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West. They've divested themselves of veterans John Olerud and Rich Aurilia this month.

Boone didn't fault the Red Sox for walking Winn intentionally to try to get him to hit into a double play.

”With the struggles I've had this season, you can't blame them,” he said. ”It was a great win.”

Mike Myers (4-1), the fifth Seattle pitcher, got the final out of the 11th.

The Red Sox were 44-0 in games in which they led after the eighth.

The Mariners sent the game into extra innings in the ninth when Olivo and Edgar Martinez homered off closer Keith Foulke with one out in the ninth. Foulke blew his fifth save in 19 opportunities and his fourth save in his last six chances since June 12.

Olivo's homer to left was his first in five games with the Mariners since being acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for Freddy Garcia June 27. The pinch-hitting Martinez homered 395 feet to center.

Jason Varitek went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth that put the Red Sox ahead 4-1.

Bronson Arroyo gave up one run and struck out a season-high 12 in eight innings for Boston.

Ron Villone pitched six strong innings, but the Red Sox came back against the Mariners' bullpen.

After left-hander George Sherrill struck out Bill Mueller to open the eighth, the Mariners brought in right-hander J.J. Putz. The reliever gave up a single to David Ortiz and walked Manny Ramirez on a full count before Varitek homered on the first pitch 422 feet to center to put the Red Sox ahead.

An alert Curt Schilling on the Red Sox bench got Ramirez a walk to lead off the fourth, and the outfielder wound up scoring the game's first run.

With the count on the scoreboard 3-2, Schilling yelled from the dugout that Ramirez had four balls instead of three, and manager Terry Francona went onto the field to talk to plate umpire C.B. Bucknor.

Bucknor and the three umpires talked it over and crew chief Chuck Meriwether called the press box, which verified that Schilling's observation was correct.

Nomar Garciaparra then singled, moving Ramirez to third, and Varitek followed with a run-scoring single.

The Mariners tied it at 1 in the sixth on Boone's RBI double, ending Arroyo's 17-inning scoreless streak.

Seattle scored an unearned run in the eighth to cut the score to 4-2. Ichiro Suzuki singled off Alan Embree and went to third on third baseman Mueller's throwing error on Winn's grounder. An RBI fielder's choice by Boone scored Suzuki.