Konerko's homer off Soriano beats Yankees

No reason to sugar coat.

The Yankees' $35-million setup man is a mess.

Rafael Soriano's miserable April continued Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss to the White Sox at the Stadium, when he allowed a game-turning two-run homer to Paul Konerko with one out in the eighth inning.

"A bad month,'' said Soriano, who was booed off the mound as his ERA climbed to 7.84 in 11 appearances.

Leading 2-1, Soriano hit Carlos Quentin with a slider. Konerko ripped a 1-and-1 pitch into the leftfield seats, scoring Brent Lillibridge, who had just entered as a pinch runner. Lillibridge would almost single-handedly deny the Yankees a come-from-behind victory in the ninth with two consecutive terrific catches.

"It was a little bit high,'' Soriano said of the pitch to Konerko. "I tried to go down and away.''

Afterward came the familiar questions about any new struggling Yankee.

Joe Girardi had his own difficulties adjusting to New York as a player in 1996. He cited Soriano's 45 saves last season for the Rays as evidence the pitcher can handle the rigors of the AL East and the Bronx.

But Girardi conceded the obvious.

"It's a different animal here,'' he said. "Some guys come in and the transition's easy. Some guys it can be difficult. I haven't found the transition to be really difficult for him; I just don't think at times he's thrown great this year. I haven't seen anything that would tell me he can't handle it.''

Said Soriano: "I feel fine, I feel comfortable with the team. Bad day. Come back tomorrow.''

The Yankees, who were shut out Monday night, were the last team in the majors not to have lost two straight. They were held in check this time by Gavin Floyd, a classmate of Mark Teixeira's at Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore. Then they nearly got Soriano off the hook.

Floyd started the ninth but was replaced by lefty Matt Thornton after Derek Jeter reached on an infield single, his second hit of the game. Curtis Granderson sacrificed Jeter to second, bringing up Teixeira, who walked.

Ozzie Guillen brought in Sergio Santos to pitch to Alex Rodriguez, who sent a 2-and-1 pitch to deep right, where Lillibridge made the catch as he banged against the wall. Robinson Cano, who homered in the second inning to make it 1-0, pulled a shot to right where Lillibridge, with the ball tailing away, made a diving catch to end it.

"Two incredible plays,'' Rodriguez said. "I'm thinking at least a double [on mine] and the kid made a great play, and an even better one on Robby.''

The loss wasted an outstanding start by Ivan Nova. He entered the game having lasted only 41/3 innings in each of his previous two starts, giving up a combined nine runs and 11 hits. The rookie righthander's poor efforts led to speculation that perhaps Kevin Millwood might get a call-up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Millwood, 36, has an out clause in his contract if he's not on the major-league roster by May 1.

But Nova, 24, quelled that talk by allowing only one run and five hits in a career-best 61/3 innings. The performance was similar to his first career victory last Aug. 29 at U.S. Cellular Field, when he struck out seven White Sox in 52/3 innings in a 2-1 win.

"Every start is important for me,'' Nova said. "I have to worry about doing my job and nothing else. If I do my job, everything will be fine. If I don't do my job, I have a problem.''

Soriano isn't in danger of losing his job as Mariano Rivera's setup man, Girardi said, and Rodriguez said he shouldn't.

"Sori's going to be fine,'' A-Rod said. "When all is said and done, him and Mo are going to be the best eight-nine [combination] in the league.''