Konerko's quick return to lineup nets pair of hits

NEW YORK - Paul Konerko is a quick healer.

One week after spraining the MCL in his right knee, the White Sox' first baseman was back in the lineup during Tuesday night's win over the Yankees.

Picking up where he left off before the injury, Konerko was 2-for-4 with 1 RBI.

"I still feel good, but obviously, you don't see live pitching for a week, and that's never a good thing," Konerko said. "But I can't worry about that stuff. We have to kick it in the (butt), get going here and win some games. I feel good. The swing feels good.

"At the same time, I won't try to do too much. Before I got hurt, I felt really good. I was swinging the bat well and driving the ball."

Konerko singled off New York starter Andy Pettitte in the second inning and drove a run-scoring double into the left-field corner in the fourth.

"The way he went down, I thought he was out for his career," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of the injury Konerko sustained against the Blue Jays last Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field. "I'm glad. I was a little upset because he started swinging the bat good, and he was carrying this ballclub for a couple of days. He was hurt at the wrong time, but everybody here is glad he came back."

Konerko was initially hoping to be back on the field this weekend in Kansas City.

"Going off what it felt like, realistically the Kansas City series in my mind felt like that would be great," Konerko said. "But things responded well. Hermie (trainer Herm Schneider) and (assistant) Brian Ball did a bang-up job. Wherever it was from Thursday and Friday to now, they really moved quickly. So, that's good, not to mention when I did it, even just with the test and the MRI, when I first did it, I thought that was it."

Even with Konerko back, the Sox are still playing without left fielder Carlos Quentin, who is expected to have his fractured right wrist re-examined today, and third baseman Joe Crede, who is in Dallas getting a second opinion on his sore back.

"Every team in contention now, the Red Sox lost (David) Ortiz, Tampa lost (Evan) Longoria, (Carl) Crawford, the Angels have lost starting pitching," Konerko said. "It's tough when you have to deal with it in September, but every team has dealt with missing their big guys for a month or more, whether it's May or June or whatever. It's not like we are some victim. Every team has to deal with the same stuff."