CHICAGO -- Ivan Nova did his part. Jason Heyward Jersey . Now the onus is on New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Nova struck out a career-high 10 and the Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 on Thursday night, completing a four-game sweep and winning their seventh in a row overall. "That might be as good as weve seen him all year," Girardi said. "This start and Cincinnati. He was excellent tonight. His slider, again, made a huge difference for him." The Yankees moved into a tie with Boston for the AL East lead. The teams begin a three-game series at Fenway Park on Friday night. Nova (10-4) pitched 7 2-3 innings and won his sixth consecutive decision. He held Chicago to one run and six hits and didnt walk a batter. His approach was simple. "Be aggressive, try to get ahead of the hitter," Nova said. "Slider today was unbelievable. Command was there. Everything was working good." The Yankees are using a six-man starting staff on their current turn through the rotation and its been assumed that the rookie Nova would be the odd man out, especially after Phil Hughes threw six shutout innings on Tuesday. "I dont know," Girardi said. "Well continue to talk about it. Weve got a good problem. Weve got a lot of people throwing the ball well and Id like to keep it that way." Girardi already announced that Hughes would start for New York on Tuesday against the Angels. In light of Novas performance, hes not sure whats next. "I dont have an answer for that yet," Girardi said. "We dont have to rush and make a decision what were going to do. Eventually well have to." Nova has a 2.92 earned-run average over his last eight starts. Hes already been sent to triple-A once this season despite his lofty totals. He insists hell be ready no matter where his next start comes. "Again in five days," Nova said. "Have a game in five days, no matter if its here or anywhere else. "Im happy right now because I won today. Im not frustrated. Ill keep waiting and hopefully Ill stay here." Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., hit a three-run homer in the ninth to break open the game and send Chicago to its sixth straight loss. He drove in four runs. Robinson Cano homered, singled, walked and scored a pair of runs as the Yankees won their sixth straight over Chicago, a streak during which theyve outscored the White Sox 49-14. "That was a good pitch, that guys out of this world, especially right now," said White Sox starter Phil Humber. "Hes so locked in, so balanced, the swings he took this series, pretty impressive. "That pitch right there was on the corner, maybe an inch or two above the knees and just to flick it out of the park like that is pretty impressive. Their whole lineup right now is hot, its definitely a tough one to go through." The White Sox have lost six straight games after getting to the .500 mark and drawing within three games of the lead in the AL Central last Friday. Chicago absorbed its first four-game sweep at home since dropping four in a row to Boston from Aug 23-26, 2007. The last time the White Sox were swept at home in a four-game set against New York was June 17-20, 1976. "We just run into a pretty hot ballclub and we not playing well against them," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Paul Konerko had two singles for a quiet White Sox offence in his first start since Sunday. He missed the three previous games with bruised left leg. "Hitting-wise I felt not bad," Konerko said. "I felt maybe 80 or 90 per cent. Definitely, for the most part, could do what I wanted to do." Adam Dunn homered in the ninth, a possible good sign for the struggling slugger, though it came with his club six runs down. "Yeah, I mean they feel good, its just meaningless," Dunn said. "Personally it felt good, but it meant nothing, had no impact on the game." Humber (8-8) lost his fourth straight start. He went 6 1-3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs. Entering the game, the players currently on the Yankees were a combined 0 for 18 lifetime against Humber. He retired the first four batters on Thursday before Cano came up in the second. With one out in the inning, Cano lined the first pitch he saw from Humber into the left-field bullpen for the first run of the game. It was Canos 18th homer of the season and second in as many games after hed gone 14 games without a longball. Nova had good stuff early, retiring the first seven White Sox in order, the last three on strikeouts. The streak was broken when Alejandro De Aza beat out an infield grounder to shortstop Derek Jeter. That gave De Aza, who was 4 for 4 in Wednesdays 18-7 loss to New York, five straight hits. De Aza then stole second, went to third on Brent Morels single to right and scored on Juan Pierres sacrifice fly for a one-all tie. The Yankees regained the lead in the sixth thanks to the speed of Brett Gardner, who started the inning with a double to right and went to third on Jeters sacrifice bunt. Curtis Granderson hit a hard grounder to Dunn at first base and Gardner broke for the plate. Dunn stepped on the bag to retire Granderson and threw home, but Gardner slid home safely just ahead of the tag by catcher A.J. Pierzynski. "I thought after Robbies home run, we manufactured runs well," Girardi said. "Gardy starts with a double, Chief moves him over. Great baserunning by Gardy, the speed to score. I thought we manufactured well tonight." Humber seemed to tire in the Yankees two-run seventh. Cano led off with a single, Nick Swisher walked and Jorge Posada hit an RBI single for a 3-1 lead. That was it for Humber, who was replaced by Jesse Crain after throwing 94 pitches. Swisher scored on Martins sacrifice fly to deep centre. Next up is the Yankees biggest rival, Boston, in a park New York has struggled in this season. Girardi says its gratifying to enter the series in a dead heat. "I think it says that weve been playing well," Girardi said. "Weve been chasing them for awhile now. It just says a lot about this club and what weve been through. Weve overcome some things. It is significant." NOTES: Konerko had been out since being hit in the left knee by a pitch against Boston last Sunday. Manager Ozzie Guillen said Konerko would be limited to designated hitter duty for a few days. Bartolo Colon will start for the Yankees in the series opener against Jon Lester. New York is 454-458 all-time at Fenway. However, the Yankees are 1-8 vs. Boston this season and have lost seven straight at Fenway. Colon has lost both of his starts against the Red Sox this season, once each at Boston and New York. Mark Buehrle gets the call for the White Sox in their opener at Minnesota in a key series for two teams scrambling to stay in the AL Central race. The Twins have beaten the White Sox in seven of eight meetings this season and have won 29 of their last 36 against Chicago. Buehrle has posted a 2.03 ERA over his last eight starts but is just 2-1 over that stretch. Hes allowed three runs or less in 16 straight starts. ... White Sox speedster Juan Pierre was thrown out stealing in the sixth. Hes just 16 for 29 on the basepaths this season. Yadier Molina Authentic Jersey . The game will be made up on Thursday as part of a day-night doubleheader. Tickets for the Wednesdays game will be honoured for the 1:05 p. Roger Maris Jersey . Doneil Henry, the man who scored Toronto FCs last-gasp game winner Saturday, knows that probably better than anyone.LOS ANGELES -- Francisco Liriano finally got that long-awaited first victory of the season. Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. Liriano (1-5) scattered five hits over 5 2-3 scoreless innings. After entering with a 5.06 ERA, he struck out eight and walked two in his 12th start of the year. "It was a great feeling to get that first win out of the way," said Liriano, a 16-game winner for Pittsburgh last season. "It was a long time, and I felt like I wasnt doing my job. I just want to try to go deeper into the game my next time out." Beckett (3-2) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, five days after pitching the first no-hitter in the majors this season during a 6-0 win at Philadelphia. Yasiel Puig reached base for the 31st straight game, getting an infield single in the fourth and continuing to second on Lirianos throwing error. He came up with the bases loaded in the fifth and popped up on a changeup for the third out, making him 0 for 5 in those situations. "Francisco pitched out of the stretch most of the night, and the leadoff hitter reached base in five of those six innings," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle pointed out. "To get Puig, thats just a classic matchup on a Friday night in front of 47,000 -- thats good stuff. There were so many important pitches in that sequence, but he stayed focused and was aggressive. He had eight strikeouts, and a lot of them were with guys on second." Despite Lirianos record, hes been able to keep his team in games more often than not. The Pirates have won all six of his no-decisions. "Thats what we continue to tell Frank," Hurdle said. "Fortunately, hes been around. Hes had to battle through so many things, and this is just the next thing hes going to get challenged by at the major league level. Hes kept his composure and his confidence, so well see where he can take it. I just believe its going to get better and better for him." Beckett was removed for a pinch-hitter after 88 pitches -- the 34-year-old righty threw a career-high 128 in the first no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since 1996. "Physically, I felt fine. I took care of myself in between starts, and I was ready to go out there," Beckett said. "I didnt feel any different between this start and my last one. I mean, if you look aat those 128 pitches in nine innings, its only 13, 14 pitches per inning. Oscar Taveras Cardinals Jersey. " Pirates second baseman Neil Walker robbed Matt Kemp of an RBI single in the sixth with a diving stop toward the middle and threw him out, after Hanley Ramirez led off with a double. Liriano faced one more batter, striking out Scott Van Slyke with his 100th pitch. Justin Wilson then fanned Andre Ethier. Mark Melancon gave up an RBI single to Ramirez in the eighth, but retired pinch-hitter Adrian Gonzalez on a grounder with the potential tying run at second. Jason Grilli pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Beckett retired the side in order only once. He hit Starling Marte with a 2-2 pitch to open the third and Clint Barmes followed with a walk. Marte was picked off second, but the Pirates overcame that miscue with singles by Josh Harrison and Walker, whose hit to right field drove in Barmes with the games first run. Davis led off the fourth with a drive to centre that travelled an estimated 453 feet. It was his fourth home run of the season, including two grand slams against Cincinnati. "Beckett was on the corners all night and his stuff was good, but that fastball caught a little more of the plate and I was able to get the good part of the bat on it," Davis said. "We really didnt do too much off him, but we scored just enough runs. Its hard to beat the Dodgers only scoring two runs, but our pitchers were amazing tonight." Drew Butera, who caught Becketts no-hitter, also was behind the plate for Lirianos no-no with Minnesota on May 3, 2011, against the White Sox in Chicago. He threw out Russell Martin and Harrison on stolen base attempts for the third out in the second and fifth innings, respectively. NOTES: It was the 19th time since 1900 that a pitcher made his first start following a no-hitter against an opponent who also had pitched one. The last time that happened was May 7, 2012, when Jered Weaver of the Angels faced Liriano and beat Minnesota for the second time in five days, 8-3. ... Dee Gordon stole two more bases to raise his major league-leading total to 34, and the Dodgers total to 64 -- also tops in the majors. ... Pirates LHP Tony Watson extended his scoreless streak to 15 2-3 innings with a perfect seventh. ... Cincinnati LHP Johnny Vander Meer (1938) remains the only pitcher to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
