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Jeter shines in Chicago farewell

May 26, 2014 - 4:42 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Derek Jeter made his final regular-season appearance in Chicago a memorable one, collecting four hits and a pair of RBI to lead the New York Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Jeter's season-best 4-for-5 performance was backed by Masahiro Tanaka's 6 2/3 solid innings and a two-run single from Brett Gardner, all of which helped the Yankees earn a split of the four-game series after dropping the first two matchups of the set.

Tanaka (7-1) delivered a bounce-back effort of his own in limiting the White Sox to a run on five hits while striking out six. The Japanese sensation had a string of 42 straight regular-season starts without a loss in pro ball end when he was beaten by the Cubs this past Tuesday.

"Everyone contributed today, and it was nice to see a real good start from Tanaka," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Brian Roberts added a solo homer as New York dealt Andre Rienzo (4-1) his first setback of 2014. The Chicago right-hander struck out seven, but was reached for five runs -- four earned -- over his five innings of work.

"He wasn't getting ahead. This was a day that he just wasn't as sharp as he's been in previous outings, so it cost him," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of Rienzo.

Conor Gillaspie finished 2-for-4 and drove in the White Sox' lone run with a sixth-inning single.

While Tanaka set down 10 of the first 11 Chicago batters and didn't permit a hit until Gillaspie's single in the fourth inning, his teammates pasted Rienzo for four runs in the second to move ahead to stay.

Singles by Yangervis Solarte and Ichiro Suzuki and a walk to Roberts loaded the bases for Gardner, whose hard grounder got through the infield to plate a pair of runners and break the scoreless tie.

Jeter then brought home Roberts with his second hit of the day and Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 New York advantage.

The Yankee captain struck again in his next two at-bats. Jeter laced a triple to center prior to crossing the plate on Rienzo's wild pitch in the fourth, then put New York up 6-0 in the sixth with a single that knocked in Alfonso Soriano, who greeted reliever Javy Guerra with a double to begin the frame.

Tanaka, meanwhile, was on cruise control until permitting a leadoff double to Tyler Flowers in the bottom of the sixth, with the Chicago catcher later scoring on Gillaspie's two-out single to left.

Adam Warren and Matt Daley held the White Sox off the board over the final 2 1/3 innings, with Roberts' solo homer in the eighth rounding out the scoring.

Game Notes

The White Sox presented Jeter with a hand-designed bench of baseball bats and a $5,000 check to his Turn 2 foundation prior to the game ... Roberts sat out Saturday's game after fouling a ball off his kneecap on Friday, while Gillaspie missed yesterday's 4-3 Chicago loss with a sore left Achilles ... Soriano had a pair of doubles in four at-bats ... The White Sox had prevailed in each of Rienzo's six previous starts this season ... Chicago second baseman Gordon Beckham singled in the eighth inning to run his hit streak to seven games.