The best closer in Yankee Stadium last night was not Mariano Rivera . . . or even a pitcher.
White Sox reserve outfielder Brent Lillibridge shut the door on a Yankees comeback with two spectacular ninth-inning catches to send the Yankees to a 3-2 loss before an announced crowd of 40,785.
Lillibridge robbed Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano of potential game-winning hits with back-to-back grabs — one against the wall and one diving — stranding the tying and go-ahead runs.
“He got really good jumps on both of the balls,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “That kid was the difference in the game.”
The Yankees were forced into comeback mode after $35 million setup man Rafael Soriano blew the game by allowing a two-run home run to Paul Konerko in the eighth inning.
Derek Jeter opened the ninth with an infield single off White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who gave up just four hits in eight-plus innings. Matt Thornton, who has blown four saves this season, came in to face Curtis Granderson, who sacrificed Jeter to second. Thornton walked Mark Teixeira to put the go-ahead run on first base.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen turned to Sergio Santos to face Rodriguez. Girardi pinch ran Eduardo Nunez for Teixeira, hoping the speedy Nunez could score on a deep shot by Rodriguez. The Yankees third baseman drilled a line drive to right field that initially looked like it had a chance to get out but fell short, and Lillibridge reached to his left to grab the ball up against the wall for the second out.
“It wasn’t going over my head,” he said. “It was either going to be a home run or I was going to get it.”
Cano hit a sinking liner that Lillibridge dove for and caught to end the game.
“I’m thinking at least double,” Rodriguez said of his hit. “The kid just made a great play and then made an even better one on Robbie.”
Making the catches even more amazing is Lillibridge is an infielder who had played only 32 innings in right field before. He entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning for Carlos Quentin and scored the tying run on Konerko’s homer.
The Yankees got the best performance of the season from Ivan Nova, who allowed just one run in a career-high 6 1/3 innings. But the offense struggled for the second straight night against the White Sox. They have seven hits and two runs in the first two games of the four-game series.
Even with the bats silent, the Yankees held a 2-1 lead entering the eighth when Soriano relieved David Robertson. The pricey setup man hit 97 mph on the radar gun and struck out Alexei Ramirez to start the inning.
After plunking Quentin, he offered up a 1-1 fastball to Konerko and the White Sox first baseman deposited it in the left-field seats.
He faced four more batters before the inning was over and the Stadium crowd booed him all the way to the dugout.
“I still believe he’s going to be very, very good for us and he’s going to play a huge role for us,” Girardi said. “He’s just gotten off to a little rough start.”
Soriano’s ERA inflated to 7.84 and the blown save was his first of the year. He had three blown saves last year as the Rays closer.
“It’s been a little different to me from being the closer to being the setup man,” Soriano said. “It was a bad day, a bad month. I’ll take it. I’ll come back next month and see what happens.”
GLOVE SAVE: White Sox right fielder Brent Lillibridge celebrates as he climbs off the ground after a diving catch of a Robinson Cano liner for the final out in a 3-2 win over the Yankees last night at the Stadium. The grab came one batter after Lillibridge made a running catch at the wall on a line drive by Alex Rodriguez . (Neil Miller)