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.