White Sox's Big Bats Do A Number On Yankees' Young Arms
NEW YORK (AP) -- A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko and the Chicago White Sox were totally prepared to face Adam Warren in his major league debut.
Seeing Dewayne Wise on the mound, now that was a surprise.
Pierzynski homered twice, Konerko and Alexei Ramirez also connected and the White Sox pounded the Yankees so hard that New York needed an outfielder to pitch, bringing in Wise to finish up a 14-7 romp Friday night.
"I'll be honest, I was very happy I didn't get up against Dewayne," said Pierzynski, who was left on deck. "He's a good friend of mine. And no matter what you do, you're going to hear about it."
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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 outing for Warren. The 25-year-old newcomer didn't make it through the third inning
By the end, the Yankees brought in Wise for his pro pitching debut -- it was the first time since 1968 that a Yankees position player pitched in a home game. Throwing a 79 mph fastball, the crafty lefty was perfect, retiring Konerko on a routine fly and getting Alex Rios on a grounder to close a four-run ninth inning.
"I like Dewayne Wise a lot better when he's making catches to preserve perfect games than when he's on the mound," Konerko kidded. "You can't win, even if you hit it a mile."
"But Rios got jammed. At least I got the bat out," he said.
Wise was familiar to many Chicago players. His outstanding grab for the White Sox in 2009 helped Mark Buehrle pitch a perfect game.
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 44 years ago. Wise wasn't in the game when he was told he had two minutes to warm up.
"I was very nervous. I haven't pitched since my sophomore year in high school," he said.
"Of all the people on that team, I wish it had been A.J. that I faced. I would love to try to strike him out," he said, laughing. "It was fun. I always said that someday I hoped I would get the chance to go in and pitch. I'm just glad I was able not to walk anybody and not give up any hits."
White Sox manager Robin Ventura was impressed. He knows what Wise went through, having pitched an inning for the Dodgers.
"He beat me. I topped out at 72 (mph)," Ventura said.
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.
"This is a nice park to hit in," Ventura said. "It's nice to get everybody swinging the bat."
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 new pitcher.
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: Konerko has homered 21 times against the Yankees, tying Joe Kuhel for the most by a White Sox player. ... Youkilis left in the fifth inning because of an upset stomach. He said he expects to be OK to play Saturday. ... Pierzynski played his 1,000th game with the White Sox. ... Chicago LHP Leyson Septimo pitched a perfect ninth in his MLB debut.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
