A-Rod leads Yanks to sweep of ChiSox; Rivera records 400th save

Jul 16, 2006, 20:40 GMT

Bronx, NY - Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and Mariano Rivera saved his 400th game as the New York Yankees bested the Chicago White Sox, 6-4, to sweep the three-game series at Yankee Stadium.

Derek Jeter homered and Jason Giambi drove in a run for the Yankees, who have won seven of their last eight contests to move within three games of the White Sox for the wild card and within a half-game of the Red Sox for the AL East lead.

'I think it was the competition that got us ready, knowing that we were playing a really good ballclub,' said New York manager Joe Torre. 'After four days off you never know what to expect...we came out firing, everybody worked their tails off and we had great bullpen work. We stretched it a little bit today and we got lucky but I'll take the result.'

Jaret Wright (6-5) threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks. Rivera recorded the two-inning save to become the fourth pitcher in history with 400 saves. He joins Lee Smith (478), Trevor Hoffman (460) and John Franco (424).

'It feels good. It's special, but without my teammates I couldn't accomplish anything by myself,' said Rivera. 'Not that one (the ball), maybe I'll give them (Hall of Fame) something else.'

'I don't want to say its remarkable (Rivera's 400 saves), but I think the fact that you've got somebody who's pitched as a closer for less than 10 years and to be as consistent as he's been,' continued Torre. 'You don't normally find closers get there as quickly as he did and be as consistent and winning the same way or closing the same way as he's done all these years. He's a special guy and unfortunately we made him earn it today.'

A.J. Pierzynski homered and Tadahito Iguchi tied a career high with four hits for the White Sox, who were swept for the first time this season. Scott Podsednik had two hits and scored a pair of runs.

Freddy Garcia (10-6) gave up six runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts for the loss. Garcia has given up 20 earned runs in his last four starts.

'I think it's a tough weekend for us, said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen. 'We did better than yesterday. Freddy came out threw the ball well. I like the way he came out and threw the ball after the first inning. We didn't have the clutch hitting. We got men on base and with this club we need the clutch hitting and defense and we didn't get either one. We got a couple of people on base and we didn't get the big hit.

The White Sox got on the board first with a run in the opening frame. Podsednik walked, moved to second on Iguchi's base hit and scored on Jim Thome's double to right. The Yankees, though, prevented Chicago from taking a bigger lead, as Iguchi was thrown out at home on Paul Konerko's fielder's choice before Jermaine Dye grounded into a double play.

However, the lead was short-lived as New York responded with three runs in the home half of the frame. Jeter homered to left, breaking a streak of 189 at-- bats without a long ball, to tie the game 1-1. Giambi then walked and Rodriguez hit a deep fly over the fence in left for a 3-1 margin.

The White Sox cut the lead in half, 3-2, in the third on Konerko's force out. With Podsednik on third and Thome on first, Konerko hit a grounder to right, but Aaron Guiel threw to second in time to beat Thome.

The Yankees opened up a four-run advantage with a run in third and two more in the fourth. Giambi lifted a sac fly to left, plating Melky Cabrera, who doubled to begin the third.

In the fourth, Miguel Cairo singled in Andy Phillips, who doubled in the previous at-bat. Cairo moved to second on the throw home and scored moments later on Bubba Crosby's two-bagger to right for a 6-2 lead.

After giving up a single to Pierzynski and a double to Joe Crede, Ron Villone replaced Wright in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Brian Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to left, cutting the gap to 6-3. Juan Uribe followed with a base hit to left, but Cabrera fired a bullet home to nail Crede at the plate.

After the Yankee bullpen got out of a jam in the seventh inning, Kyle Farnsworth struggled in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff homer to Pierzynski before giving up back-to-back singles to Crede and Anderson. Rivera was called on and he got Uribe to pop out and Podsednik to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Iguchi led off the ninth with a double and Thome followed with a walk, but Konerko hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Dye struck out to end the game.

The save was Rivera's 21st of the season.

Chicago's Jon Garland (8-3) pitches the first of three games in Detroit against Nate Robertson (8-5) beginning Tuesday. The White Sox are 4 1/2 games behind the Tigers for the lead in the AL Central.

Game Notes

Seattle's Jarrod Washburn (4-9) opens a three-game series in New York on Monday versus Chien-Ming Wang (9-4).

The White Sox designated pitcher Cliff Politte for assignment before the game and recalled pitcher Sean Tracey from Triple-A Charlotte.

Jeter's last homer was on May 16 against Texas. It was the second-longest streak of his career within a single season. He went 313 at-bats between homers in 1997.

New York center fielder Johnny Damon sat out the game after experiencing cramps in his right leg on Saturday.

The last time the White Sox were swept in a three-game series in New York was October 1-3, 2001.

Chicago was 4-for-33 in the series with runners in scoring position.

Rodriguez needs four hits to reach 2,000 and seven RBI to reach 1,300.

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