Derek Jeter had his fourth career five-hit game Wednesday. New York has won six in a row and is one game behind Boston in the AL East with those two teams set to begin a series Friday. The White Sox pitchers, who have an 8.37 ERA during the five-game skid, allowed season highs in runs and hits. The Sox fell to 52-57 and 6 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the American League Central — their largest deficit since trailing by seven games June 5.

The good news for Chicago is that AL MVP candidate Paul Konerko is expected to return tonight. He missed the first three games of this series after being hit in the left calf in Sunday’s loss. Konerko, who leads the Sox with a .305 batting average with 25 home runs and 76 RBIs, believes hitting will present a greater challenge than playing first base.

The pitching matchup tonight features New York’s Ivan Nova (9-4, 4.01) vs. Chicago’s Phil Humber (8-7, 3.44). Making his first MLB start since July 1, Nova gave up just two runs in seven innings in a win against the Orioles on Saturday. In his last start against the Yankees, Humber took a no-hitter into the seventh. But he hasn’t been good of late, allowing 14 runs over 14 innings in his last three starts.

Bet on Yankees-White Sox now at Bodog!