"To sit and battle for three hours and have it taken away in 45 seconds, that's rough," Foulke said after Monday's 7-4 loss to Seattle in Game 1 of the American League Division Playoffs.

That Foulke was standing on the pitcher's mound for the critical 45 seconds, watching consecutive pitches fly over the fence for home runs in the 10th inning, made it especially rough.

The Mariners' Mike Cameron steals second just before Edgar Martinez's two-run homer in the 10th.(AP)

Foulke led the White Sox with 34 saves this season, but like the team's entire pitching staff, he was playing in his first playoff game. Foulke entered the game at the start of the ninth inning and retired the side. In the 10th, he got into trouble, perhaps thrown off by what appeared to be a psychological ploy by Mariners manager Lou Piniella.

"I can't say that I have seen that," Foulke said. "I don't know what that was about. Probably to get under my skin a little."

Mike Cameron led off the inning with a single. Alex Rodriguez flied out. With a 1-0 count on Edgar Martinez, Piniella asked for time out, walked to first base and talked to Cameron. It looked odd, the manager walking out to talk with a runner while the first base coach just stood there.

"I really haven't seen that since Little League," Cameron said.

Foulke wondered later whether it was even legal. Not that he planned to call Johnny Cochran or anything, but he just hadn't seen anything like it in the big leagues. Piniella tried to explain it away with a joke.

"I told him the NASDAQ was down 113 points today and Cisco was a hell of a buy," Piniella said.

But seriously ...

Neither Piniella nor Cameron would explain it seriously.

Foulke said it didn't distract him or affect his pitches, but what came next most definitely got under his skin. After Piniella's stroll to the field, the White Sox pitched out, making the count 2-0 on Martinez. On the next pitch, a change-up, Cameron stole second. Foulke came back with another change-up that Martinez belted into the left field bleachers, giving the Mariners a 6-4 lead.

Next up was John Olerud. First pitch -- another homer, this one a 415-foot shot to center field that put Seattle ahead by the eventual final score.

The Mariners have a 1-0 lead in the series, and the next two scheduled starters for the White Sox, Mike Sirotka and James Baldwin, are coming off injuries. It looks bad for Chicago already, and that in part explained the crowd of reporters around Foulke's locker. It comes with the turf for closers. But Foulke had never experienced a pounding like that in a game this big with a large media contingent looking for answers.

Foulke, 27, in his third full season in the big leagues, handled it as well as could be expected. He was testy at times and witty at times. Somebody asked about the pitch placement on Martinez's home run. Where was it?

"About 365," Foulke said.

Actually, the official estimate on Martinez's home run was 368 feet.

Somebody asked if Martinez hit a good pitch.

"Good change-ups don't get hit for home runs," Foulke said. "It was a bad change-up, yeah. ... Actually the pitch to Olerud wasn't that bad of a pitch. But he was probably looking for a fastball in the middle of the plate, down. And that's what he got."

Nerves weren't an issue, Foulke said. He was the sixth pitcher the White Sox used in the game.

"After sitting there and listening to the crowd, I had a chance to relax," he said. "Really, I didn't feel a whole lot of pressure. It felt like a game against the Cubs. But don't get me wrong. It's not easy to deal with failure."

Foulke arrived in Chicago as part of what became known as the "white flag trade" of 1997, a deal that was derided by fans at the time. He helped turn the deal into one of the reasons the White Sox are in the playoffs. He said he will handle Tuesday's result calmly.

"The other alternative is me going back there and beat the wall or kick something," Foulke said. "It's not going to make this game go away. We still lost and we have to bounce back and forget about it. I'll go sit in the hot tub for a while and try to get on with tomorrow."

Foulke said he can pitch again in Wednesday's game, scheduled to start at Noon CT, if he's needed.

In the meantime, he might glance at something else in his locker. It's a sheet of paper with the title "The Winner vs. the Loser." Traits are listed for each. The winner does this, the loser does that, and so on. "The loser always has an excuse," it says. And, "The loser has a problem for every answer."

Foulke had no excuses Tuesday, just some bad memories. In the biggest game of his major league career so far, he was the loser.

"You just have to deal with it and try not to make an ass out of yourself," he said.