Nova earns first MLB win in Yankees' 2-1 victory

CHICAGO - The guy tabbed to give Javier Vazquez a break to collect his thoughts isn't going anywhere for a while.

Ivan Nova, who took Vazquez's turn in the rotation yesterday, pitched well for a second straight outing in the Yankees' 2-1 victory over the White Sox in front of a sellout crowd of 39,433 at U.S. Cellular Field.

"He's going to make another start, I can tell you that," manager Joe Girardi said of the 23-year-old Nova, who again showed mound composure beyond his years in earning his first major-league victory. "He's pitching lights out."

The victory enabled the Yankees (80-50) to finish the road trip at 3-3 - a positive after losing three of the first four games. They remained tied for first with the Rays and moved 61/2 games ahead of the Red Sox.

Nova was better in his second major-league start than he was in his first, which was pretty good. Last Monday in Toronto, Nova allowed two runs and six hits in 51/3 innings. Throwing a fastball that hit 96 mph with regularity and showing a much better curveball than he had against the Blue Jays, Nova gave up five hits and a walk in 52/3 innings, striking out seven.

"Fastball, curveball, slider, changeup," Francisco Cervelli said of Nova's arsenal. "Everything was good today."

Girardi said after A.J. Burnett's poor outing here Friday that he would "evaluate" the rotation after the weekend, leaving open the possibility that the struggling righthander could be skipped.

But early Sunday evening, Girardi said the Yankees will stay "in rotation," meaning Dustin Moseley starts tonight, followed by Phil Hughes Tuesday night, Burnett on Wednesday and CC Sabathia on Thursday.

"We need A.J. to pitch well for us," Girardi said. "He's going out Wednesday and we need him to pitch well for us."

Girardi needs someone other than Sabathia to step up, and Nova did just that. He described himself as "emotionless" on the mound, which was part of following the advice his mother, Altegracia, provided in a phone conversation Saturday night.

"Don't feel pressure," he said she told him. "Pitch like you're in Triple-A." His response? Nova, 12-3 with a 2.86 ERA for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, smiled. "I said OK."

The Yankees' bullpen, shaky in Saturday night's 12-9 victory, got good performances by Boone Logan, Kerry Wood, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera, who earned his 27th save.

Chamberlain got the final out of the seventh and saw Paul Konerko reach on an error to start the eighth. But Cervelli, who had the first four-hit game of his career, threw out pinch runner Brent Lillibridge trying to steal second, significant in that Andruw Jones followed with a single. Chamberlain retired the next two hitters to end the inning, giving way to Rivera.

Marcus Thames gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second, leading off the inning by driving Gavin Floyd's 2-and-2 pitch into the seats in left. Thames, who homered twice Saturday night, has hit at least one home run in each of his last four starts. He has five in his last 14 at-bats.

"We said that in spring training, guys are going to get hurt and everybody else has to step up," Thames said.

Cervelli doubled and scored on Brett Gardner's single in the third to give Nova a 2-0 lead. That was all he needed. "We're asking a young man to step up," Girardi said. "And that's exactly what he's doing."

White Sox starter Floyd (9-11) allowed two runs and seven hits in 62/3 innings.