Yanks rout White Sox as Torre reaches milestone

Jun 8, 2007, 4:05 GMT

Chicago, IL - Bobby Abreu's two-run double and an Alex Rodriguez grand slam powered the Yankees to a 10-3 win over Chicago in the finale of four between the clubs at U.S. Cellular Field.

Scott Proctor (1-3) earned his first win of the season by pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Mariano Rivera pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to earn his seventh save. Mike Mussina scattered four hits and one run over six-plus innings, striking out four in the no-decision.

Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano drove in the other runs for the Yankees, who won three of four in the series and gave manager Joe Torre his 2,000th win placing him 10th on the all-time list, nine behind Leo Durocher.

Jose Contreras (4-6) allowed four hits and three runs over 7 1/3 innings, fanning five, but was tagged with the loss.

Jim Thome had a pair of hits and scored a run for the White Sox, who have dropped three in a row and five of six. A.J. Pierzynski had two hits and a run batted in, Paul Konerko picked up two hits and drove in a run, and Tadahito Iguchi added a run-scoring double.

After letting the Sox tie the game in the seventh, New York seized control of the game with a three-run eighth.

Derek Jeter worked a lead-off walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on Cabrera's infield single. Contreras was pulled for Matt Thornton, who allowed a two-run double to Abreu. Rodriguez got a free pass, and Matsui followed with an unintentional walk to load the bases. Cabrera hit into a fielder's choice which made it 4-1, but Jorge Posada was retired to end the frame.

Jerry Owens started the bottom of the inning for the Sox with a base hit and moved to second on Kyle Farnsworth's botched pick-off. Iguchi drove him in with a ground-rule double which brought Chicago within 4-2.

Rivera was called upon to face Thome, whose ground out moved Iguchi to third. Konerko followed with an infield single to deep short off Jeter's glove which made it 4-3. Pierzynski fanned swinging for the third out, and was ejected for yelling at home plate umpire Bob Davidson.

Rodriguez iced the game with a two-out grand slam in the ninth -- his 22nd homer of the season and his 15th career slam -- to boost the Yankees lead to 8-3. Cano added a run-scoring triple and scored on an error which capped the scoring.

The Yankees picked up a run in the fourth on Matsui's fielder's choice RBI, beating out a potential double-play ball which allowed Abreu to score.

Thome got things going for the Sox in the seventh with a lead-off single, and went to third on Konerko's base hit. Mussina exited in favor of Mike Myers, who faced Pierzynski and gave up an RBI single which tied the game. Proctor was brought in and retired the last three batters, keeping the game 1-1.

Game Notes

New York leads the season series, 4-3...The Yanks finished 6-4 on their 10- game road trip...Coming into the game, the White Sox bullpen carried a league- worst 5.56 ERA...Konerko's eighth-inning single gave him 804 RBI with the White Sox, and tied him for fifth in franchise history with Eddie Collins...New York begins a three-game weekend interleague set with the Pirates at the Stadium on Friday, while the Sox stay home to host the Houston Astros in the first of three also on Friday.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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