White Sox Rally and Defeat Yankees

Paul Konerko knew that if Mariano Rivera threw his cutter on the inside of the plate, his at-bat probably would be over.

That’s why he decided to concentrate on the outer half of the plate.

Konerko tied the score with a leadoff homer in the ninth inning, and Jermaine Dye singled home the winning run against Scott Proctor in the 11th to lead the Chicago White Sox over the New York Yankees, 6-5, Tuesday night.

“That’s a great moment right there, to hit a homer off a Hall of Famer to tie up a game,” Konerko said. “We needed that game, a big win for us. Hopefully that sparks us and gets us going.”

Konerko’s opposite-field homer made it 5-5 and gave Rivera only his third blown save in 31 chances.

“It got too much of the plate,” Rivera said after surrendering only his second homer of the season. “It was going away, and didn’t get there. If you leave the ball over the plate, those things are going to happen.”

Konerko was realistic about his chances, and that’s why he sectioned off the plate in his field of vision.

“One pitch or two he threw in, and I chased it and took bad swings. So I just kind of looked away and said I’m going to look in this one area, and if he throws there I can maybe at least put it in play,” Konerko said. “Really if he throws anything else, I’m probably done. ... When you got two strikes, you just say, ‘Don’t strike out, and make him earn it.’ ”