Chicago rallies past NY
White Sox tie it in 9th, win in 11th
CHICAGO -- Paul Konerko knew that if Mariano Rivera threw his cutter on the inside of the plate, his at-bat probably would be over.
That's why he decided to concentrate on the outer half of the plate.
Konerko tied the game with a leadoff homer in the ninth inning, and Jermaine Dye singled home the winning run against Scott Proctor in the 11th to lead the Chicago White Sox over the New York Yankees, 6-5, last night.
``That's a great moment right there, to hit a homer off a Hall-of-Famer to tie up a game," Konerko said. ``We needed that game, a big win for us. Hopefully that sparks us and gets us going."
Konerko's opposite-field homer made it 5-5 and gave Rivera just his third blown save in 31 chances this season.
``It was going away, and didn't get there," Rivera said after surrendering just his second homer of the season.
Konerko was realistic about his chances, and that's why he sectioned off the plate in his field of vision. ``One pitch or two he threw in, and I chased it and took bad swings. So I just kind of looked away and said I'm going to look in this one area, and if he throws there I can maybe at least put it in play," Konerko said. ``Really if he throws anything else, I'm probably done."
Tadahito Iguchi singled leading off the 11th, a one-hop liner that was knocked down by second baseman Robinson Cano, whose throw to first was wide. Jim Thome walked off Proctor (4-3) and, after Konerko flied out, Dye lined a single to center. Iguchi scored as Johnny Damon's throw didn't even reach the infield grass on the fly.
Bobby Jenks (3-3) pitched 2 2/3 innings, striking out four. He fanned Damon with a runner at third in the ninth, struck out Bernie Williams with a man at second in the 10th, and got Melky Cabrera to ground out with a man at second in the 11th.
Alex Rodriguez and Craig Wilson homered for the Yankees, who lost for just the third time in 13 games and remained two games ahead of the second-place Red Sox in the AL East.
