Jeter leads Yankees past White Sox 6-4

[May 01, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh inning to give him four RBIs, helping the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 on Friday night.

Jeter also hit a tying, two-run homer in the fifth for New York, which opened a six-game homestand with its third consecutive win. The All-Star shortstop went 3 for 4 and is batting .538 (7 for 13) in his last three games.

Paul Konerko set a White Sox record with his major league-best 11th homer in April and Gordon Beckham added two hits as Chicago lost for the 12th time in its last 14 games in New York.

The Yankees shook off a shaky start by Andy Pettitte to finish the first month of the season with a 15-7 record, a solid beginning for the defending World Series champions. New York went 12-10 in April last year, when it finished with 103 wins.

The White Sox (9-14) lost for the third time in four games, closing a difficult April on a down note. Manager Ozzie Guillen said he was "very disappointed" with the results before the series opener.

With two on and one out in the seventh, Jeter sliced a 2-2 pitch from Matt Thornton (2-2) past diving right fielder Jayson Nix and into the corner. Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner scored easily to give New York a 6-4 lead.

Jeter popped up and slapped his hands together after sliding into third with his first triple of the season.

Alfredo Aceves (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to improve his career record to 13-1. Damaso Marte and Joba Chamberlain combined to work a perfect eighth before Mariano Rivera finished for his seventh save in seven tries.

Pettitte allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings for the Yankees, ending his string of three wins in three starts. The left-hander yielded just four runs in his first 28 innings this season.

The White Sox got off to a fast start, taking advantage of a couple of well-placed hits to begin the game. Alexei Ramirez led off with a looper just out of the reach of second baseman Robinson Cano and Beckham followed a bloop single into right field to put runners on first and second.

After Alex Rios flied out to center, Konerko drove a 1-2 pitch from Pettitte over the wall in right for his third homer in the last two games. The ball landed just out of the reach of Nick Swisher, who made a leaping try at the fence.

Konerko broke a tie with Jim Thome for the franchise mark for April homers set in 2006. He went 1 for 2 with two walks to finish the month with 21 RBIs and a .297 batting average.

New York got two back in the bottom half. Alex Rodriguez snapped an 0-for-19 skid with an RBI double off Freddy Garcia and Cano added a run-scoring single.

Juan Pierre, Chicago's slumping leadoff hitter, batted ninth for the first time this season and went 0 for 3 with a walk to drop his average to .193.

NOTES: White Sox RF Andruw Jones was scratched with back spasms and replaced by Nix. ... Yankees C Jorge Posada missed his second straight start with a swollen right knee. He hit for Nick Johnson in the seventh and struck out. ... Guillen said 43-year-old INF Omar Vizquel would start at shortstop or second base on Saturday. Vizquel is 8 for 15 in his career against scheduled Yankees starter Javier Vazquez. ... Rivera struck out two in the ninth to give him 1,015 Ks, passing Roger Clemens for 10th on the Yankees' career list.

[Associated Press; By JAY COHEN]

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