White Sox Hammer Yankees 14-7
NEW YORK (AP) — A.J. Pierzynski homered twice, Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez also connected and the Chicago White Sox pounded the Yankees so hard that New York brought in outfielder Dewayne Wise to pitch in a 14-7 romp Friday night.
A night after the White Sox rallied to win at Yankee Stadium on Dayan Viciedo's three-run homer in the ninth, they made it a short and sour major league debut for Yankees starter Adam Warren.
By the end, the Yankees brought in Wise for his pro pitching debut. Throwing a 79 mph fastball, he retired Konerko and Alex Rios in order to close a four-run ninth inning. Wise was the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Nick Swisher in 2009 — Gene Michael was the last to do it for the Yankees at home in 1968.
Rookie Jose Quintana (3-1) fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, then hung in to give the White Sox their fourth straight win in a matchup of AL division leaders.
Derek Jeter's leadoff double was his 3,185th hit, moving him past Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. for 13th place on the career list. Curtis Granderson followed with his 22nd homer.
It was 95 degrees at gametime, and the ball was flying. It was 6-all by the fourth and Pierzynski's leadoff homer in the fifth against David Phelps (1-3) put Chicago ahead to stay.
Pierzynski hit a pair of solo drives for his fifth multihomer game, and drove in three runs. Ramirez had four of Chicago's 19 hits and Gordon Beckham had two of the team's five doubles.
Quintana has been quite a surprise for the White Sox, and the rookie began the night with a 1.25 ERA and a 16-inning scoreless streak. He had not allowed more than two runs in any of his six starts.
The Yankees quickly tagged Quintana, and Andruw Jones' two-out, two-run double made it 4-0 in the first. But the 23-year-old lefty from Colombia stayed cool, and was nicked only by Jayson Nix's two-run double off Ramirez's glove at shortstop in the fourth before leaving after six innings with a 10-6 lead.
Warren was promoted from Triple-A this week after CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte went on the disabled list. A few hours before the game, Warren's suitcase was in his locker and there wasn't yet a nameplate over his stall.
The Yankees tried to make him feel welcome. After the infielders whipped the ball around after Warren's last warmup pitch, Jeter took a toss from Alex Rodriguez and trotted in for a final word with the 25-year-old newcomer.
Warren started out fine, striking out leadoff man Alejandro De Aza and drawing a cheer from friends and family members sitting in the second deck behind the Yankees dugout. Catcher Chris Stewart tossed the ball out of play as a keepsake — pretty soon, the White Sox started providing their own souvenirs.
Pierzynski opened the second with his 13th homer. Beckham lined a two-run double and Kevin Youkilis had an RBI groundout that made it 4-all.
Konerko hit his 14th homer on Warren's first pitch in the third. After an RBI single by Pierzynski and a sharp single by Ramirez with one out, Warren was pulled. Phelps relieved his fellow rookie and got out of the inning, drawing a high-five from Warren.
Rios had an RBI single in the sixth. Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the seventh and added an RBI double in the ninth.
NOTES: Youkilis left in the fifth inning because of an upset stomach. ... Pierzynski played his 1,000th game with the White Sox. ... Quintana had pitched to 100 straight batters without issuing a walk until Rodriguez drew one in the first. ... Yankees C Russell Martin entered in the ninth inning. He's been out lately because of back trouble, but predicted he'd be in the starting lineup Saturday. ... White Sox RHP Jesse Crain has a shoulder problem and expects to miss a couple of days.
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