Seattle Mariners' Mike Cameron watches his fourth home run of the game, tying the major league record, in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CHICAGO — After watching their historic highlights one more time, Bret Boone and Mike Cameron met in the middle of the clubhouse and exchanged a very loud high-five.

        Not a bad night for two guys who'd been struggling at the plate.

        Cameron and Boone became the first teammates in major league history to both hit two home runs in the same inning, connecting back-to-back twice in Seattle's 10-run first against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

        “It's a thing of beauty,” Cameron said. “A good thing because myself and Boonie we've kind of been struggling a little bit. It was a great opportunity for us to get some base hits and get our team rolling again. It worked out very well for us.”

        And Cameron wasn't finished. Not by a long shot.

        Cameron tied the major league record with four home runs. He also had solo homers in the third and fifth innings as the Seattle Mariners routed the White Sox 15-4.

        Cameron is only the 13th player to accomplish the four-homer feat.

        “I really don't have any words for it,” Boone said. “We've been struggling lately and we were the two unlikeliest guys to do it.”

        Hoping to generate more runs after losing three straight, Mariners manager Lou Piniella shuffled his lineup for the game. Boone, who led the AL in RBIs last season, was bumped up to No. 2 in the order and Cameron was moved to No. 3.

        And the duo wasted little time putting their names into the record book. After Ichiro Suzuki was hit by a pitch leading off the game, Boone homered. Cameron followed with a drive off Jon Rauch that barely cleared the center-field wall and a leaping Kenny Lofton.

        Two outs later, Boone again homered on the first pitch, this time off reliever Jim Parque. Cameron took Parque to a full count, then homered to center again.

        “I knew I extended pretty good on this one. I knew that was gone,” Cameron said.

        Boone struck out in the third inning, but Cameron kept going with another solo shot, this one to left.

        “Where am I for the third at-bat?” Boone yelled out as he watched the Cameron highlights. “In the dugout!”

        But Boone was as happy for his teammate as anyone.

        “After we hit our second and I was going up for No. 3, I said that if I hit another one, he'd better not choke,” Boone said. “Well, he hit one. And I didn't.”

        There had only been 39 previous occasions of a player hitting two home runs in an inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Eric Karros was last to do it, on Aug. 22, 2000, for Los Angeles. Mark McGwire was the previous AL player to do it, on Sept. 22, 1996, for Oakland.

        Boone and Cameron became the first Mariners to homer twice in an inning.

        “It was awesome to be a part of it and to watch it,” Boone said.

        It was the second time in team history the Mariners have hit four home runs in one inning. The first time was on Sept. 21, 1996, in the third inning against Oakland.

        The Mariners also tied a team record with seven homers in the game.

        “Being part of history, it's a very sweet thing,” Cameron said, “because there's a very, very sweet history of the game of baseball.”

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