Floyd leads solid overall effort

NEW YORK - If the White Sox hope to put the finishing touches on their playoff push, they don't need superhuman efforts.

The Sox just need every player to go out and do his job, and that's exactly what happened in Tuesday night's 6-2 victory at Yankee Stadium. The Sox' lead in the AL Central jumped to 2 games with the Twins' loss at Cleveland.

Starter Gavin Floyd (16-7) delivered 7 solid innings, relief pitchers Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks held New York down, and the offense scored early and kept adding.

"We didn't score a ton of runs, but the offense was pretty good," said Paul Konerko, who was 2-for-4 with 1 RBI in his first game back from a knee injury. "We took some walks and got some timely hitting. That's how it's going to be down the stretch."

Floyd figures to get 2 more starts in the regular season, and those are going to be games the White Sox expect to win.

"He's been good all year long," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's been consistent, and to me, he's the ace."

While improving his record to 9-2 after a Sox loss, Floyd limited the Yankees to 2 runs on 9 hits. His best moment came in the fifth inning, when N.Y. loaded the bases with two outs trailing 4-2.

Jason Giambi worked the count full and fouled off 4 pitches before Floyd struck him out with a slider.

"I was like, 'uncle,' '' Floyd said. "I just tried to keep my focus and keep making good pitches. Everybody in their lineup is a good hitter. They were battling, and I was battling, too."

Floyd has been exceptional for most of the season, but Guillen thinks the 25-year-old pitcher might have taken his game to a new level while facing Giambi.

"I think that's when that kid started turning into a man," Guillen said. "He was facing one of the best hitters in the game, but he didn't give in. He did a tremendous job."

Guillen has similar praise for Konerko, left fielder Brian Anderson (1-for-4, 1 RBI) and especially third baseman Juan Uribe (3-for-3, 2 RBI).

"Uribe's been playing great," Guillen said. "Uribe was outstanding."

Konerko showed very little rust from his one-week layoff, getting hits off Yankees starter Andy Pettitte in each of his first two trips to the plate.

"My swing felt all right," Konerko said. "I didn't try to give it too much thought. I felt like I did seven days ago, which was good.

"I feel good about it. We are in first place. When I went down, thoughts cross your mind about being ready for spring training, let alone this year. It was very scary in my mind when I did it."

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