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 Robinson Cano homered for the Yankees, trying to chase down a playoff berth with a late-season charge. Brett Gardner hit a two-run triple and Lyle Overbay an RBI double in a four-run fourth against Erik Johnson (0-1), who was making his major league debut.
New York, which entered 2 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card, has won 15 of 18 home games and 17 of 24 overall. Swept in three games at Chicago from Aug. 5-7, the Yankees returned the favor a month later.
Next up for New York, an 11-game gauntlet against division rivals Boston and Baltimore -- beginning Thursday night with a four-game set against the first-place Red Sox.
The last-place White Sox have lost six straight to start a 10-game trip against AL East contenders.
Cano finished with three hits and two RBIs.
With the Yankees leading 6-1 and seemingly in control, Sabathia (13-11) walked off to a warm ovation with two on and one out in the eighth. But normally reliable setup man David Robertson gave up an RBI single to Avisail Garcia, a two-run single to Josh Phegley with two outs and an RBI single to rookie Marcus Semien that cut the cushion to one.
Well aware of his team's place in the pennant race, manager Joe Girardi quickly went to Rivera, who threw a called third strike past Alejandro De Aza to end the inning.
Rivera then got three quick outs in the ninth for his second save in two nights and 41st this season in 46 tries. It was his first save of more than three outs since July 24, 2011, against Oakland.
The only other time in 55 appearances this season the 43-year-old Rivera pitched more than one inning was when he blew a save Aug. 7 against the White Sox and wound up getting six outs.
Sabathia had his best outing in a month and improved to 19-4 in 33 career starts against the White Sox, the lowest-scoring team in the American League this year.
The 23-year-old Johnson allowed five runs -- three earned -- and seven hits over six innings. A second-round draft pick two years ago, he went 12-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 24 starts combined at Triple-A Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham this season.
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Combined with Semien and reliever Daniel Webb, they made the White Sox the first team this season to have three players make their major league debuts in the same game.
Cano hit Johnson's 12th pitch to right field for his 203rd career home run, moving ahead of Hall of Famer Bill Dickey for 15th place on the franchise list.
Alex Rodriguez singled to start the fourth, and Johnson hurt himself with a bad throw. He shattered Ichiro Suzuki's bat on a slow roller, then babied his soft throw to first base. Jeff Keppinger failed to scoop it, and Suzuki was safe on Johnson's error.
Overbay hit an RBI double and Gardner tripled to deep left-center before scoring on Cano's two-out infield single, a comebacker that deflected off Johnson's glove.
Alfonso Soriano added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Chicago's Dayan Viciedo lost his bat on a second-inning swing and it snapped on a railing six rows behind the White Sox dugout.
NOTES: The game began with only three umpires while Bruce Dreckman was treated by Yankees medical staff for a finger injury he sustained away from the ballpark. The teams played a half-inning with three umps before Dreckman came onto the field for the bottom of the first, umpiring at third base. Dreckman originally was scheduled to work home plate, but the assignments were rotated before the game. Crew chief Tim Welke moved from first base to home plate. ... Yankees RHP Ivan Nova was selected AL pitcher of the month for August after going 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in six starts. Nova (8-4, 2.88 ERA) pitches Thursday night against Red Sox RHP Jake Peavy (11-5, 3.91). ... Semien singled in his first career at-bat. He and Johnson were teammates on the 2011 California team that went to the College World Series after overcoming budget cuts that targeted the baseball program for elimination. Semien was drafted by Chicago four rounds after Johnson. ... It was the 20th anniversary of Jim Abbott's no-hitter at Yankee Stadium against Cleveland.
[Associated
Press; By MIKE FITZPATRICK]
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