Jeter homers, triples as Yanks hold off White Sox

His eyes said it all.

Intense and focused, Derek Jeter stepped to the plate and waited for just the right pitch. And like he's done countless times during his tenure in the Bronx, the Yankee captain delivered.

He crushed a two-run home run to leftfield in the fifth inning and later drilled a two-run triple to right in the seventh to propel the Yankees to a 6-4 comeback win over the White Sox Friday night in front of 44,783 fans at the Stadium.

He finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and improved his batting average .330.

"You have to like to be in those situations, but it doesn't mean you're going to be successful all the time," said Jeter, who was a double shy of the cycle. "Pretty much get a hit, that's how it is all the time. My mindset really doesn't change too much. Try to get a good pitch to hit and hopefully hit it hard."

The shortstop now has 2,778 career hits, breaking a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most hits among active players. His four RBIs were the most he's had in a game since Sept. 6, 2008.

"He's the man," said starter Andy Pettitte, who allowed four runs in six innings. "If you need a big hit from somebody, you want him up there. He loves it. You can see it in his eyes."

Jeter's heroics helped rescue Pettitte, who struggled to find command of his pitches in the first two innings. He gave up his first home run of the season to Paul Konerko in the first - a three-run shot and Konerko's major-league leading 11th blast - just over the rightfield wall.

"I just made a stupid pitch," said Pettitte (3-0, 2.12 ERA), who got a no-decision and still closed out the month of April undefeated for the second time since he started the 2003 season 5-0. "I tried the back-door-cutter to freeze him and as hot a player as he is, I have to bury that pitch."

Jeter led off the bottom of the first with a single to left, followed by a Mark Teixeira walk. Then Alex Rodriguez broke an 0-for-19 slump with a double down the leftfield line to score Jeter. Robinson Cano - who leads the AL with a .400 batting average - followed with an RBI single to right to cut it to 3-2.

The White Sox scored again in the second on a sacrifice fly, but Pettitte settled down thereafter, retiring six straight batters.

Mariano Rivera earned his seventh save and first in over a week. He struck out two batters and now has 1,015 career strikeouts, surpassing Roger Clemens for sole possession of 10th place on the Yankees all-time list.

Jeter eventually put the Yanks ahead for good in the seventh when he ripped a two-run triple off reliever Matt Thornton to rightfield, scoring catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was hit by a pitch, and Brett Gardner.

"He's meant so much to this team and you can look at so many games that he has such a big impact on, like tonight," Joe Girardi said. "Derek's a winner and he's always been a winner. One day it will come to an end, but you expect him to play at a high level every time he goes out there."

Said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen: "He is God. He's God all the time. It's fun to watch him play the game. He's the No. 1 ambassador of the game. The guys always has good looking women around him, too. I mean, God bless him."