Wise hit gives White Sox win 3-2 over Yankees

When last seen at U.S. Cellular Field, Dewayne Wise made one of the best catches in baseball history while helping preserve Mark Buehrle's perfect game.

That was last Thursday, against the Tampa Bay Rays, and the can't-forget catch came after Wise entered the game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement.

Following a miserable 1-6 road trip to Detroit and Minnesota, the White Sox were back home Thursday and locked in a tight game with the Yankees when Wise again grabbed his glove and came on in the top of the ninth.

This time, the Sox didn't need any defensive heroics from Wise. But they did need his bat in the bottom of the inning, and Wise delivered again with a walk-off single off Yankees reliever Phil Coke with two outs.

"Just being able to come out here and help the team win is a positive for me," Wise said after the White Sox edged New York 3-2. "It was really exciting for me. Like I said, it's about time I came through and did something positive to help this team win."

There were plenty of positives for the Sox, who have been rolling at home and stumbling on the road.

Starter Gavin Floyd was brilliant, pitching 72/3 innings and allowing 1 run on 4 hits while matching his career high with 10 strikeouts.

"I just tried to make pitches and got some strikeouts today," Floyd said. "I just try to keep us in the lead and with a 1-0 lead, you have a small room for error. Just really try to keep us even tied after they scored that 1 run. Just try to focus on what I need to do."

Floyd exited with two outs in the eighth inning after Derek Jeter singled, but Matt Thornton preserved the White Sox' 2-1 lead by striking out Mark Teixeira after allowing a Johnny Damon single.

Heading into the ninth, Thornton stayed in the game and struck out Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui to close in on his second save of the season.

But former teammate Nick Swisher, who struck out in his first three trips to the plate, stunned the crowd of 31,305 by homering on an 0-1 pitch to tie the game at 2.

"When you punch out three straight times, it's nice to do something," Swisher said.

Bobby Jenks has been the Sox' closer since midway through the 2005 season, but the big right-hander was sent home from the game with kidney stones.

Manager Ozzie Guillen said Jenks would be back with the club tonight.

Another highlight for the White Sox came in the seventh inning, and it was courtesy of catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

With Jim Thome on second base and Pierzynski on first with one out, Carlos Quentin grounded to Jeter and it looked like a double play was in store.

But the gritty Pierzynski barreled into second base and that caused the Yankees' Robinson Cano to throw the ball wildly to first for an error, which allowed Thome to score and put the Sox in front 2-1.

"That's the reason we won the game, besides Floyd's tremendous job," Guillen said. "That's what we have to try to do, attack like A.J. did today."

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