Jason Giambi flexed his muscles Wednesday night at Comiskey Park, shooting down talk of steroids before putting the stake into the White Sox.
Sox closer Keith Foulke self-destructed in the ninth inning with a two-run lead, giving up five runs to give the Yankees a 6-3 victory and a three-game sweep at Comiskey Park.
Giambi hit two homers, including a three-run shot off Foulke in the ninth that broke open a tie game.
“It’s not some miracle,” Giambi said of his home-run power. “Guys either have talent or they don’t have talent. It’s no longer a sport that you just get up and go to the park. It’s something you train for year-round. There is no off-season, especially if you want to achieve the things you want to achieve in this game.”
Sox starter Mark Buehrle allowed one run on seven hits in seven innings, trumping Roger Clemens’ 11-strikeout effort. But another Foulke implosion spoiled the night.
After striking out Robin Ventura with two on to end the eighth, Foulke loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on Nick Johnson’s double, Alfonso Soriano’s single and a walk to Derek Jeter.
Pitching coach Nardi Contreras came out for a talk, after which Bernie Wiliams delivered a game-tying, two-run single on the first pitch. Foulke fell behind Giambi 2-0 before Giambi belted an arching, three-run homer.
The Buehrle-Clemens duel was a classic matchup of young vs. old, left vs. right, finesse vs. power and underdog vs. top dog.
“Buehrle is an up-and-coming young pitcher, and Roger Clemens is Roger Clemens,” Sox manager Jerry Manuel said before the game. “Clemens is a horse. He’s a power guy who can finesse. When they’re both on top of their games, it could be a good game for the purists, the ones that want to see a 1-0, 2-1 ballgame. It’s kind of a marquee matchup early in the season.”
The purists in the crowd of 27,572 got exactly what they had bargained for. Both pitchers were hitting their spots from the beginning, with only minor hiccups along the way.
The Sox broke on top in the first on Magglio Ordonez’s single and an RBI double by Paul Konerko, snapping an 0-for-9 streak for the Sox first baseman. But the Yankees bounced back quickly. Giambi cranked a 381-foot home run to right leading off the second, the 200th homer of Giambi’s career, tying the game at 1-1.
Clemens struck out eight of 10 hitters from the second through the fourth innings before Jeff Liefer reached on an infield hit off Clemens’ leg leading off the fifth. After Mark Johnson’s opposite-field single put runners on the corners with no outs, Royce Clayton’s sacrifice fly to center put the Sox on top.
When Clemens put Frank Thomas down on strikes in the sixth, it marked the 100th time in the right-hander’s career he had struck out 10 or more batters, third on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan’s 215 games and Randy Johnson’s 175.
The Sox added another run in the seventh on Clayton’s bloop double and Kenny Lofton’s triple. Manuel replaced Buehrle with Foulke to start the eighth. With Williams on second and two outs, Foulke plunked Rondell White, causing a brief stir when White veered out of the baseline to jaw at Foulke.
One inning later, Foulke was booed off the mound.
