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Garland mows down Yankees as White Sox win series

May 17, 2007 - 10:47 PM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Jon Garland became the latest pitcher to shut down the New York Yankees.

Garland tossed seven strong innings to win his third straight start as the Chicago White Sox posted a 4-1 triumph Thursday afternoon against the Yankees.

It was the eighth victory in the last 11 contests for the White Sox, who won the rubber game of this three-game series. The teams split a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday, with Chicago winning the opener.

Garland (3-2) historically had struggled here against New York, losing each of his last four home starts against the Yankees. But the righthander had everything working on Thursday, yielding one run, six hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

"I think today I might have been effective because early on, (in the season) I wasn't throwing too many strikes," Garland said. "But it seemed at the right time, I was making the right pitch. The defense behind me today was outstanding."

The 6-6 Garland clearly capitalized on another dismal offensive performance by the Yankees, who have lost five of their last seven contests while managing a total of 22 runs over that span.

"The key in today's game was (Garland) making the big pitch when we needed it, and he did," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "When you play them, you've got to bring your best stuff, because they will score a lot of runs."

"We're playing hard but coming up empty," Yankees manager Joe Torre added. "Everyone feels like they are letting everyone else down. We need to get into position to play consistent winning baseball."

New York appeared primed to break out of its slump after an 8-1 win in Wednesday's finale but mustered very little against Garland, who retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced to improve to 2-5 lifetime against the Yankees.

"It's been a struggle for us to score runs consistently," Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "It's been frustrating. We've had our chances, and I don't know what it is.

"(Garland) has good movement on the ball. He has two or three different kinds of fastballs. He pitched up in the zone or down the zone."

Mike MacDougal logged a perfect eighth inning and fellow righthander Bobby Jenks breezed through a scoreless ninth to record his 13th save.

Garland received all the support he needed from Jermaine Dye, who homered, doubled and plated all four of Chicago's runs.

"(Dye) woke up today," Guillen said. "Hopefully, as a group, we can keep it up."

The White Sox jumped to a 1-0 lead in the opening frame when Dye ripped a double to plate Darin Erstad, who led off with a single against Yankees rookie Matt DeSalvo (1-1).

Chicago added insurance in the third, when A.J. Pierzynski led off with a hit to set the stage once again for Dye, who crushed his seventh home run well over the wall in left field to make it 3-0.

"I don't feel that great at the plate yet," Dye said. "I'm not as good as I've felt before, in the past. I'm just trying to have good at-bats, where I can put a good swing on the pitch, (and) go out there to be put in the position to succeed and help my team win."

It was the first homer in 12 games for Dye, who entered Thursday's contest with a .206 average and just 17 RBI. Dye made it 4-0 in the fourth when he lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Tadahito Iguchi, who led off with a double and advanced to third on Pablo Ozuna's sacrifice.

Iguchi went 2-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base for the White Sox, who concluded a 4-2 homestand and travel to Chicago's North Side on Friday for a three-game interleague series with the rival Chicago Cubs.

"The series tomorrow is another one, but it's a different scenario," Guillen said. "Facing the Cubs, it's a different attitude in the city. When you play and see your fans get excited, you push the pedal a little bit harder and you make sure you get more gas."

The Yankees finally got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning when Doug Mientkiewicz belted a long double off the wall in right field to drive home Robinson Cano.

DeSalvo lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his third career start, allowing four runs and six hits with four walks and two strikeouts.

Rodriguez had two hits for the Yankees, who return to New York on Friday to open a three-game road set against the New York Mets.

"We know it's crazy when we go play the Mets," Torre said. "We need to get something started against somebody, and hopefully it will be tomorrow."