Yankees 2 - 3 White Sox
Final
  for this game

White Sox welcome back Sale for opener with Yankees

May 22, 2014 - 2:28 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago White Sox will welcome their ace back to the mound Thursday night when they begin a four-game series with the New York Yankees.

Chris Sale will return to the hill one month to the day from going on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his left arm. After an impressive rehab appearance at Triple-A Charlotte on Friday, and a successful bullpen session on Tuesday, the southpaw is back for the opener against the Yankees.

"It seems like I've been in here for three months, watching baseball not really doing anything," Sale told Chicago's official website. "You feel excluded, everyone's doing their part and chipping in and helping win ballgames, and I'm just sitting over there on the sidelines with pom-poms in my hands really. Actually not even that, sitting in the training room with my elbow in a bucket."

Sale was his old dominant self before the injury and he'll provide a boost for the White Sox, who took two of three from the Kansas City Royals earlier in the week.

Their bid for a sweep was thwarted thanks to a 3-1 loss on Wednesday.

Nori Aoki went 2-for-4 and scored the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning that gave the Royals the victory. Aoki also had an RBI on a third- inning single, but it was his two-strike bunt base hit with one out in the Royals' half of the eighth with the game knotted at 1-1 that turned into the game's pivotal moment.

Alcides Escobar followed with a sharp double off Chicago starter Jose Quintana for his second hit of the night, which set up Billy Butler's tie-breaking sacrifice fly that brought home Aoki without a throw.

Quintana (2-4), who entered the eighth having retired 10 straight Royals, was charged with all three runs over 7 1/3 innings in a hard-luck defeat.

Chicago's Conor Gillaspie extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in his first at-bat. Paul Konerko knocked in the White Sox's only run with single in the second.

The setback meant a 4-5 road trip, but the White Sox next play 10 straight at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Yankees earned a split with the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday with a 4-2 win in extra innings.

New York scored two in the top of the ninth and two in the 13th to snap a two- game slide. Only one of those four runs came home on a hit.

The Yankees scored two on a botched double play in the ninth and got the go- ahead tally on a Jose Veras wild pitch in the 13th.

Chase Whitley made his second big league start and logged a no-decision, allowing one run and six hits over 4 1/3 innings.

"I thought again (Whitley) did a tremendous job," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

New York turns to David Phelps on Thursday. He earned his first win of the season on Saturday with a 7-1 victory at home over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Phelps went five innings, allowing five hits, no runs and striking out five.

The two teams split six meetings in 2013 as each team recorded home sweeps.






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