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Jeter leads Yankees past White Sox 6-4

May 1, 2010 - 3:29 AM By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- The final game of the season's first month had a familiar feel for the New York Yankees, who are used to Derek Jeter putting together these kinds of nights.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen also had seen this before.

Jeter hit a tiebreaking, two-run triple in the seventh inning to give him four RBIs, helping the Yankees beat Chicago 6-4 on Friday.

"Derek's a winner, and he's always been a winner," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "One day it will come to an end, but you expect him to play at a high level every time he goes out there."

Jeter also hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the fifth for New York, which opened a six-game homestand with its third consecutive win. The All-Star shortstop went 3 for 4 and is batting .538 (7 for 13) in his last three games.

"If Jeter wasn't in the lineup, we win the game," Guillen said. "It's fun to watch that guy play the game."

Paul Konerko set a White Sox record with his major league-best 11th homer in April as Chicago lost for the 12th time in 14 games in New York. Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham had two hits apiece.

The Yankees shook off a shaky start by Andy Pettitte to finish the first month 15-7, a solid beginning for the defending World Series champions. New York went 12-10 in April last year, when it finished with 103 wins.

"I think we're really happy with the way things are going," Pettitte said. "We're playing well."

The White Sox (9-14) lost for the third time in four games, closing a difficult April on a down note. Guillen pronounced himself "very disappointed" with the results before the opener of the weekend series.

With two on and one out in the seventh, Jeter sliced a 2-2 pitch from Matt Thornton (2-2) past diving right fielder Jayson Nix and into the corner. Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner scored easily to give New York a 6-4 lead.

Jeter popped up and slapped his hands together after sliding into third with his first triple of the season.

"You have to like to be in those situations but, like I always say, it doesn't mean you're going to be successful all the time," Jeter said. "But I enjoy those situations."

Thornton hit Cervelli with an 0-2 pitch and Gardner completed a tough at-bat with a single to set up Jeter's hit.

"You just can't make bad pitches against those guys," Thornton said.

Alfredo Aceves (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to improve his career record to 13-1. Damaso Marte and Joba Chamberlain combined to work a perfect eighth before Mariano Rivera finished for his seventh save in seven tries.

Pettitte allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings for the Yankees, ending his string of three wins in three starts. The left-hander yielded just four runs in his first 28 innings this season.

The White Sox got off to a fast start, taking advantage of a couple of well-placed hits to begin the game. Alexei Ramirez led off with a looper just out of the reach of second baseman Robinson Cano, and Beckham followed with a bloop single into right field to put runners on first and second.

After Rios flied out, Konerko drove a 1-2 pitch from Pettitte over the wall in right for his third homer in two games. The ball landed just out of the reach of Nick Swisher, who made a leaping try at the fence.

"It was just a stupid, stupid pitch at that point in time," Pettitte said.

Konerko broke a tie with Jim Thome for the franchise mark for April homers set in 2006. He went 1 for 2 with two walks to finish the month with 21 RBIs and a .297 batting average.

New York got two back in the bottom half. Alex Rodriguez snapped an 0-for-19 skid with an RBI double off Freddy Garcia, and Cano added a run-scoring single.

Juan Pierre, Chicago's slumping leadoff hitter, batted ninth for the first time this season and went 0 for 3 with a walk to drop his average to .193.

NOTES: White Sox RF Andruw Jones was scratched with back spasms and replaced by Nix. ... Yankees C Jorge Posada missed his second straight start with a swollen right knee. He hit for Nick Johnson in the seventh and struck out. ... Guillen said 43-year-old INF Omar Vizquel would start at shortstop or second base on Saturday. Vizquel is 8 for 15 in his career against scheduled Yankees starter Javier Vazquez. ... Rivera struck out two in the ninth to give him 1,015 Ks, passing Roger Clemens for 10th on the Yankees' career list.