SPORTSTICKER AL RECAP CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees rarely are a welcome site at most ballparks across the nation, but Mike Sirotka and the Comiskey Park faithful were happy to host the world champions. Sirokta allowed just one run and two hits over eight innings for his second straight impressive peformance against the Yankees as the Chicago White Sox salvaged a doubleheader split with a 2-1 victory in front of their largest home crowd since 1997. Sirotka (2-5) struck out five, walked three and retired 14 straight batters until issuing a ninth-inning leadoff walk to Chad Curtis, who had the Yankees' only two hits. "We tried to give him every opportunity to finish," said White Sox manager Jerry Manuel. "He was pretty much running on empty but he was pitching well. It was a tremendous performance but we wanted to protect the lead and finish the game." Bob Howry came on and retired Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams but mixed in walks to Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, loading the bases. After Howry balked home Curtis and threw a first-pitch ball to pinch-hitter Chili Davis, Manuel had seen enough and turned to Bill Simas, who caught Davis with a 3-2 fastball on the outside corner to end the game. "Whatever I do is great in that situation," Simas said. "You get a bases-loaded, 1-0 count, I'm just trying to throw strikes and let him hit the ball somewhere." Davis, normally New York's designated hitter, did not start for the first time this season and was pinch-hitting for Scott Brosius, the Most Valuable Player of the 1998 World Series. "We had our chance in the ninth but couldn't get the runners across," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. The White Sox broke a five-game losing skid, during which they allowed 51 runs. Simas recorded his second save of the season and helped Sirokta avenge Sunday's 2-1 loss to Andy Pettitte and the Yankees in New York. Chicago's 27-year-old lefthander gave up two runs and eight hits over eight innings in that contest. "I think their hitters match really good against what I do best ... which is move the fastball around and cut it in on their hands," Sirotka said. "So if they start diving, I run it in. If they start looking in there, I go back away. I just play cat and mouse and I'm not afraid to throw strike one and get ahead of them." This time, Pettitte (2-2) was the hard-luck loser, surrendering just two runs and six hits over seven innings. He struck out five but walked four. "I felt relaxed out there tonight and made some good pitches when I had to," said Pettitte. "I was happy about that. We kept fighting back, but they got the big out when they needed it." The crowd of 35,310 marked the largest at Comiskey since 35,571 watched the White Sox play a doubleheader with the Seattle Mariners on August 17, 1997. Approximately 11,000 people bought tickets prior to the twinbill in order to watch the 1996 and 1998 World Series victors. "That (the crowd) was awesome," added Sirotka. "The fans were great. It definitely had me pumped up and everybody else. We were talking about how nice it would be to have that many every night. It's definitely great to play in front of a crowd like that." "We can build on that," Manuel said of the crowd. "It was nice to see. It was exciting for young players to see a crowd like that. We played quality baseball against a quality team. It's a joy to perform with a good audience." Chicago, which dropped the first game 10-2, has not been swept in 15 doubleheaders at the new Comiskey Park, which opened in 1991. Ray Durham led off Chicago's half of the first with a chopper over the mound that resulted in an infield single. He advanced to third on a single to right by Craig Wilson -- his sixth straight hit against Pettitte -- and scored when Frank Thomas bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. Other than the ninth, New York's best chance to score came in the fourth when it loaded the bases on Curtis' leadoff single and walks to Jeter and Williams. But as he did in the ninth, O'Neill struck out. Posada went down swinging and Martinez popped to third for the inning's final out. "You have to give Sirotka credit, he pitched a hell of a game," said Torre. "He was changing speeds and cutting the fastball. He had great command and kept the ball down. We didn't get many good cuts and you have to give him credit." With the fourth-inning walk, Jeter has reached base in all 41 games this season. But his 16-game hitting streak came to a halt when he walked in the ninth. The White Sox added a much-needed insurance run in the seventh. Carlos Lee singled and pinch-runner Chris Singleton was sacrificed to second. Darrin Jackson struck out and Pettitte issued an intentional walk to Greg Norton to face Mark Johnson. But the strategy backfired as Johnson ripped an RBI single to right.  