On the Yankees beat

Bottom of Ninth: Guess Joba is human after all. First Pierzynski hit a long fly ball to center. Quentin then doubled off the leftfield wall. Joba got ahead in the count to Crede, but then got a pitch up and Crede lined it to left-center for a walk-off single at 12:41 a.m. White Sox 7, Yankees 6. Thank you for joining us and drive home safely.

Top of Ninth: Ozzie Guillen wins this chess match with Joe Girardi. After the Yankees put two men on with one out off Logan, Guillen brought in closer Bobby Jenks. Girardi countered by pinch hitting Jorge Posada for Ensberg, whose single tied the game two innings earlier. Posada grounded Jenks' 2-and-1 pitch to second and the White Sox turned a DP.

Bottom of Eighth: Joba didn't seem very comfortable with the muddy mound, but that didn't prevent him from getting the White Sox in order, including strikeouts of Konerko and Uribe. With Mariano going 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday night, Joba may be in for some extended duty tonight. It's 12:18 in the morning; thanks for hanging in there with us.

Top of Eighth: Boone Logan needed only seven pitches to retire the Yankees. Joba is coming in to pitch the bottom of the eighth.

Bottom of Seventh: Farnsworth kept the game tied with help from Jose Molina, who threw out Nick Swisher trying to steal second on a botched hit-and-run play. Farnsworth struck out Orlando Cabrera to end the inning but slipped after making his final pitch and appeared to injure himself slightly.

Top of Seventh: We told you the White Sox bullpen was putrid. After lefty Matt Thornton retired Damon and Jeter, Abreu singled and Matsui walked. Scott Linebrink, whom the White Sox overpaid with a four-year, $19-million free-agent deal, came in and gave up a game-tying single to Ensberg. According to YES' stat people, it was the 11th two-out hit of the series for the Yankees. Linebrink walked Cano to load the bases but somehow got out of the inning when Crede made a nice grab in foul territory of Giambi's popup. It's 6-6 with Farnsworth coming in to pitch.

Bottom of Sixth: Jekyll and Hawkins is at it again. Just when you think he can't be depended on, he comes through with a 1-2-3 inning like this one.

Top of Sixth: The Melk Man delivers again! Cabrera is now tied with A-Rod for the team lead in HRs with four after his two-run shot into the rightfield seats cut Chicago's lead to 6-5. You've got to like the Yankees' chances trailing by only one with three innings to go against the White Sox bullpen.

Bottom of Fifth: Baseball is a game of numbers. With No. 21, Paul O'Neill, analyzing from the YES TV booth, LaTroy Hawkins, now No. 22, was taken deep by Jim Thome for career HR No. 513. Hawkins' ERA is hovering in the 11-plus range. Giving up one run in one inning actually lowered it.

Top of Fifth: Floyd worked around a leadoff walk to Damon. He's pitching better now than he did before the rain delay.

Bottom of Fourth: Awful inning for Ohlendorf, who got hammered for five hits and five runs. He didn't get much help from Ensberg at third. A-Rod's fill-in ole'd one hot shot and made a bad throw home to allow Dye to score the go-ahead. With the bullpen shorthanded because of Brian Bruney's foot injury, it will be interesting to see how Girardi patches things together the last five innings. The Yankees are going to have win this one with their bats. Remember, Floyd can't be expected to go too much longer and the White Sox bullpen is nothing to write home about either. White Sox 5, Yankees 3

Top of Fourth: Floyd came out to pitch despite the long rain delay. He had more problems with the condition of the mound than the Yankees hitters. He gave up a two-out single to Cabrera and that was it. Cano's average is down to a mystifying .161 after striking out to lead off the inning. He looks like he could use another day off.

Bottom of Third: The Yankees made the right move by not bringing back Hughes after the 51-minute rain delay. He's too valuable a property to risk an arm injury. Ross Ohlendorf came in and retired the White Sox in order to preserve the Yankees' 3-0 lead.

Top of Third: If the White Sox are smart, they'll make a strong pitch for Bobby Abreu when he becomes a free agent after the season. He loves hitting at The Cell. His two-run double, which was inches from being a HR, followed Jeter's sac fly and gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Giambi made a great slide to score on Jeter's medium-deep line drive. lThe Yankees' main goal at this point is getting five innings in with a lead. It's pouring again and the tarp is going on the field. Just Hughes' luck. He's pitching well, but if it's a long rain delay, his night could be over.

Bottom of Second: These teams are playing like they want to get five innings in before the rain comes. They're up there hacking. Hughes allowed a leadoff single by Konerko but quickly retired Dye on a liner to center and Pierzynski on a DP started by Cano.

Top of Second: Yanks go quietly against Floyd, and it's starting to rain again.

Bottom of First: Hughes saved Giambi an error when he scooped up a low throw on Swisher's grounder to first. Most impressive part of the inning was Hughes blowing a full-count fastball by Thome for the third out.

Top of First: The game started after a 34-minute rain delay, which didn't seem to bother Floyd. The Yankees couldn't get the ball out of the inning in their first look at Floyd.

Weather report: It's raining in Chicago. The game is unlikely to start till at least 9 o'clock. Stay tuned for updates.

Pitching Preview: Two young pitchers going in opposite directions face each other as the Yankees go for their first sweep at U.S. Cellular Field since May 2002. Phil Hughes (0-3, 8.82 ERA) showed improvement in his last start on Friday in Baltimore, at least in the first five innings. He held the Orioles to one run before allowing four more in the sixth inning of the Orioles' 8-2 win. Hughes hasn't gone six innings since April 3 against the Blue Jays in his first start of the season. Hughes has never faced the White Sox.
White Sox righty Gavin Floyd, who's a grizzled 25-year-old veteran compared to the 21-year-old Hughes, has been solid in his first three starts. Floyd is 2-0, 1.40, allowing only three earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. This is Floyd's first start against the Yankees.