OF Wise perfect as a pitcher, Chisox rout Yankees

NEW YORK – Dewayne Wise was minding his business, watching the New York Yankees get drubbed, when the call came: Get warmed up.

So after two minutes of getting loose, the veteran outfielder was summoned Friday night to make his pro pitching debut. It went perfectly, too, with Wise retiring his only two batters to close a four-run ninth inning in a 14-7 romp by the Chicago White Sox.

"I was very nervous. I haven't pitched since my sophomore year in high school," he admitted.

Throwing a 79 mph fastball, the crafty lefty retired Paul Konerko on a routine fly and got Alex Rios on a grounder. And on a night when a lot went wrong, at least the Yankees had a moment to remember.

"We got our butts kicked tonight. But it's just one game. Everybody kind of laughed about it," Wise said.

Wise is in his 10th season in the majors and said he'd always want to pitch once in the big leagues.

Would he like to try it again?

"Actually, no, cause I'd like to let the pitchers do their job," he said.

Wise became the first Yankees position player to pitch since Nick Swisher in 2009. This was the first time it happened for the Yankees at home since Gene Michael in 1968.

"Well, he got two outs. Two pretty good hitters, too," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Sometimes, you can change speed, change eye level, you can change in and out and you can't get anyone out. And then a guy comes in and is just throwing BP and gets people out. It's a strange game."

Wise was the Yankees' fifth pitcher of the game. Starter Adam Warren made his big league debut was gone by the third inning.

"He was my last guy. I used everybody else," Girardi said.

A.J. Pierzynski homered twice, Konerko and Alexei Ramirez also connected as the White Sox broke loose.

"I'll be honest, I was very happy I didn't get up against Dewayne," said Pierzynski, who was left on deck. "He's a good friend of mine. And no matter what you do, you're going to hear about it."

Said Wise: "Of all the people on that team, I wish it had been A.J. that I faced. I would love to try to strike him out."

Wise was familiar to many Chicago players. His outstanding grab for the White Sox in 2009 helped Mark Buehrle pitch a perfect game.

"I like Dewayne Wise a lot better when he's making catches to preserve perfect games than when he's on the mound," Konerko kidded. "You can't win, even if you hit it a mile."

"But Rios got jammed. At least I got the bat out," he said.

Rookie Jose Quintana (3-1) fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, then hung in to give the White Sox their fourth straight win in a matchup of AL division leaders.

Derek Jeter's leadoff double was his 3,185th hit, moving him past Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. for 13th place on the career list. Curtis Granderson followed with his 22nd homer.

It was 95 degrees at gametime, and the ball was flying. It was 6-all by the fourth and Pierzynski's leadoff homer in the fifth against David Phelps (1-3) put Chicago ahead to stay.

Pierzynski hit a pair of solo drives for his fifth multihomer game, and drove in three runs. Ramirez had four of Chicago's 19 hits and Gordon Beckham had two of the team's five doubles.

Warren was promoted from Triple-A this week after CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte went on the disabled list. A few hours before the game, Warren's suitcase was in his locker and there wasn't yet a nameplate over his stall.

The Yankees tried to make him feel welcome. After the infielders whipped the ball around after Warren's last warmup pitch, Jeter took a toss from Alex Rodriguez and trotted in for a final word with the new pitcher.

Warren started out fine, striking out leadoff man Alejandro De Aza and drawing a cheer from friends and family members sitting in the second deck behind the Yankees dugout. Catcher Chris Stewart tossed the ball out of play as a keepsake — pretty soon, the White Sox started providing their own souvenirs.

Pierzynski opened the second with his 13th homer. Beckham lined a two-run double and Kevin Youkilis had an RBI groundout that made it 4-all.

Konerko hit his 14th homer on Warren's first pitch in the third. After an RBI single by Pierzynski and a sharp single by Ramirez with one out, Warren was pulled. Phelps relieved his fellow rookie and got out of the inning, drawing a high-five from Warren.

"I had kind of a sigh of relief getting through that first inning. I went out for that second inning and just found it hard to find a rhythm," Warren said.

"When we put those runs on the board, it does take a little pressure off of you. I just wanted to go back out there and shut them down and get back on track in there, but it just wasn't the case," he said.

Said Girardi: "We believe that he's really in our future plans."

NOTES: Yankees C Russell Martin entered in the ninth inning. He's been out lately because of back trouble, but predicted he'd be in the starting lineup Saturday.