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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, August 29, 2009

MLB: Yanks' Mitre shakes off rust, shuts down White Sox


BEN WALKER
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK — Sergio Mitre shook off the rust and pitched sharply before getting struck by a line drive in the seventh inning, combining with Chad Gaudin on a one-hitter as the New York Yankees routed the slumping Chicago White Sox 10-0 Saturday.

Working for the first time since a relief outing eight days ago, Mitre (3-1) was perfect until Jim Thome ripped a bad-hop double past Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira with one out in the fifth.

That was Chicago's only hit. Mitre left with a bruised right forearm after being nailed by A.J. Pierzynski's liner, and Gaudin closed with 2 2-3 hitless innings.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 576th homer, and Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano each got three of New York's 14 hits.

The White Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games. Jose Contreras (5-13) fell behind 8-0 in the fourth and leads the AL in losses.

Mitre issued his lone walk to Brent Lillibridge leading off the seventh. Pierzynski followed with a liner up the middle that hit Mitre before he could get his glove up. Mitre recovered the ball behind the mound and threw out Pierzynski.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi and a trainer looked at Mitre, and the right-hander trotted off to a nice ovation.

The game started in a mist with the lights on. The wet conditions seemed to affect Chicago a lot more than the Yankees.

The White Sox made three errors, and second baseman Jayson Nix's second miscue of the game was the team's AL-high 100th of the season. Right fielder Jermaine Dye slipped and fell while retrieving Hideki Matsui's double, and still made the relay from flat on his back.

On the other side, Rodriguez made a nifty, backhanded dive on a hot shot down the third-base line and Cano ranged far up the middle for another grounder.

Later, Jeter jumped high to knock down a liner and get a forceout. The shortstop also flashed quick reflexes while on deck — he neatly plucked Jose Molina's foul as it ricocheted off the backstop and handed the souvenir to a young girl.

A ball that tipped off the glove of diving White Sox left fielder Scott Podsednik keyed a four-run burst in the second. Cano's sliced fly wound up as a double, and Jerry Hairston Jr. and Johnny Damon delivered two-run doubles.

A pair of bad throws on the same play helped New York score four more in the fourth for an 8-0 lead. Jeter singled and stole second, then was trapped off the bag on Damon's comebacker. Contreras overthrew shortstop Alexei Ramirez, and Nix alertly backed up and caught the errant toss on the fly. Nix, however, bounced a throw to third in an effort to get Jeter.

Making his first start in two weeks, Mitre seemed a little out of sync — he threw pitches to the backstop to each of the first two batters. He quickly found his rhythm and was extremely efficient, working from the extreme left side of the rubber to better get inside on righties.

The Yankees' No. 5 starter struck out two and beat the team that tagged him for a season-high five earned runs last month.

Contreras gave up a season-high eight runs. He's lost six straight starts overall against the Yankees, the team he pitched for in the 2003 World Series as a rookie.