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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- He took one swing and all the hours of rehab, all
the 4:30 a.m. wakeup calls during his stay in the minors were worth
it for Brook Fordyce.
"I don't want to make an impact on this team; this team is
doing fine without me," Fordyce said after his tie-breaking,
three-homer off Roger Clemens helped lead the Chicago White Sox
over the New York Yankees 8-2 Tuesday night.
|  | | After spending two starts in the minors, Kip Wells got control of his control problems. He struck out seven and won. |
" I just want to fit in at this point," Fordyce said. "My
biggest worry tonight was to work with Kip Wells. My offense was a
bonus."
The White Sox, in first place in the AL Central, hit five
homers, three off Clemens (4-4).
After breaking his foot during a spring training intrasquad
game, Fordyce worked long hours during his stay on the disabled
list to get his body and his game ready to rejoin the White Sox,
for whom he hit .297 last season.
He got the call to end his rehab assignment at Triple-A
Charlotte and came to Chicago, only to face Clemens, one of the
game's great pitchers, in his first game back. The home run came in
his second at-bat of the season.
"I'll remember that. You usually don't get a shot like that off
him," Fordyce said. "You expect when you get called up to maybe
be a little tired from the flight, and you got Roger out there and
you don't really know what to expect. It was a big hit for us, it
made us relax. We got a couple of more and that allowed Kip to go
out and pitch his game."
Wells also got the call back from the minors Tuesday. He'd been
sent there for two starts to straighten out control problems.
Wells (3-3) allowed two runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings,
striking out a career-high seven.
"When you get hit around a little bit, you question yourself
like you would in another business," Wells said. "I just had the
opportunity to go down and pitch a couple of games and get some
confidence back and get in some good outings and come back here."
Fordyce worked well with Wells from behind the plate, but his
biggest contribution was from his bat.
Following singles to Chris Singleton and Carlos Lee in the
fourth, Fordyce drove a two-out homer to left-center for a 5-2
lead.
Slumping Ray Durham, his average plummeting into the .240s, hit
a solo shot four pitches later to make it 6-2. Paul Konerko homered
off Jason Grimsley in the fifth, and Magglio Ordonez off Todd Erdos
in the seventh.
"Any time a Roger Clemens gives up three home runs, it's a
letdown," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's not an excuse. I
always get surprised when it happens, because he's Roger Clemens.
His stuff was good, but his location was way off."
Clemens said his pitch to Fordyce caught too much of the plate.
"I was working so hard making pitches to get out of that
inning," Clemens said. "For it to continue, it was
disappointing."
Jose Valentin homered in the first before the Yankees took the
lead on Tino Martinez's two-run single in the third. Frank Thomas
hit a two-out RBI single that tied the game in the bottom half.
Clemens gave up six runs and seven hits in four innings, his
shortest outing this season.
Game notes
Clemens beat the White Sox with seven strong innings last
week at Yankee Stadium and is 19-9 against them. ... Chicago's Greg
Norton left the game in the bottom of the third after spraining his
left ankle on the first-base bag as he tried to get back and avoid
a pickoff throw from Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. He was replaced
by Herbert Perry. ... To make room for Fordyce and Wells on the
roster, the White Sox sent C Josh Paul to Triple-A Charlotte and
designated RHP Tanyon Sturtze for assignment. ... Chicago also hit
five homers against Toronto on May 3.
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