CHICAGO -- Chris Sale knew he wasnt going the distance anyway. Even so, he felt a sense of relief when he finally gave up that hit -- the only one he allowed. Sale retired 18 of 19 batters over six scoreless innings in his return from an arm injury, and the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Thursday night. The left-hander retired the first 17 hitters after missing more than a month because of a flexor strain in his pitching arm, and Chicago hung on after New Yorks Mark Teixeira singled in two runs against Ronald Belisario in the ninth. The White Sox couldnt have asked for more of their ace. An All-Star the past two seasons, Sale (4-0) struck out 10 and didnt even come close to allowing a runner until Zoilo Almonte -- a .167 hitter entering the game -- lined a single to centre with two out in the sixth. Sale then struck out Jacoby Ellsbury and called it a night after throwing 86 pitches. "I dont think I was ever more excited to give up a hit in my life," he said. "(Manager Robin Ventura) said the same thing, You picked a bad night to do something like that. It was all in fun, we were just joking around." Sale would have been finished after six, perfect game or not. The White Sox werent about to stretch their best pitcher after about a five-week layoff, and he insisted he would not have lobbied to stay in even if it was still going. "We have a plan," Sale said. "We have something set in stone. I pitch to win. I dont pitch for no-hitters or perfect games. I would have fully understood. I wouldnt have liked it, but do I respect it? Absolutely." Zach Putnam retired the side in the seventh, and Daniel Webb worked a perfect eighth before Belisario nearly blew it in the ninth. He gave up a one-out single to pinch hitter Ichiro Suzuki and walked Derek Jeter. After the runners moved up on a passed ball, Teixeira drove them in with a single up the middle. Belisario then struck out Alfonso Soriano looking at a 3-2 pitch up and in for his second save in three attempts. "I know the umpire, they have a tough job, its not easy being an umpire," Soriano said. "That ball is up and in. I never said anything to the umpire, but that pitch is a ball." He said he saw a replay and added: "Its a bad call, but nothing you can do." David Phelps (1-1) was a tough-luck loser for New York, allowing two runs over seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one. But one rough inning was the difference. The White Sox scored two with two out in the second on an RBI double by Alejandro De Aza and run-scoring single by Adam Eaton to go up 2-0. Chicago added to the lead in the eighth, when Gordon Beckham led off with a double high off the right-field wall against Alfredo Aceves and scored on Adam Dunns two-out single, and that was enough for the win. Sale had the Yankees lunging and looking at pitches on the corner and at the knees, doing everything but make solid contact. He struck out the side in the first and third innings along with the first two batters in the fourth -- not bad for a guy who hadnt pitched since April 17. In that game, Sale tossed one-hit ball over seven innings against Boston. He felt sore the next day after throwing 127 pitches and wound up going on the disabled list on April 22. "I dont think theres anybody he can go up against where we feel like were behind the eight-ball going in or were the underdogs," Paul Konerko said. "Theres definitely some pitchers in the league that have the same type of ring to their name and the same type of makeup and stuff. But were just fortunate weve got one of them." NOTES: Yankees manager Joe Girardi said RHP Michael Pineda, recovering from a back injury, will throw to hitters on Saturday. "Hes progressing like we want," Girardi said. "Everythings going according to plan." Pineda was suspended 10 days for having pine tar on his neck in a game at Boston and then injured a muscle in his upper back pitching a simulated game April 29, during his ban. ... Girardi also said he thinks reliever Shawn Kelley will "try to do something next week." The right-hander had a setback in his recovery from a back injury when he woke up feeling stiff Tuesday after playing catch at Yankee Stadium the previous day. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Outlet . Onyshko, from Minnedosa, Man., will compete in artistic gymnastics while Hanet, from Kelowna, B.C., will compete in lawn bowling as a para-athlete. "It is exciting that our Canadian athletes are starting to arrive at the Games Village," said Chantal Petitclerc, Canadas Chef de Mission. Cheap Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping . Ferrer will play Mikhail Youzhny on Sunday after he defeated Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Russian semifinal. "Youzhny is a good player," Ferrer said. https://www.customnikebaseballjerseys.com/. Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Store . -- The Atlanta Braves are facing the possibility of losing another pitcher for the season after general manager Frank Wren said Saturday that Cory Gearrin has a serious injury to his right elbow. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys China .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Orlando Magic are the only team in the NBA who have reached the halfway point in the season. So, if its good enough for one team out of 30, then we shall declare it the midpoint of the 2014-15 NBA season. In doing so, lets examine where the awards would go if the campaign was drastically shortened, which, no one would cry a single tear about. MVP - JAMES HARDEN, HOUSTON ROCKETS Almost every other pundit has tabbed Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors for this honor and I get it. Curry is the best player from the best team in the league, and, in the absence of a runaway contender, that formula is a solid means to an answer. However, I believe Harden has been a more valuable player for the Rockets. The statistics bare out pretty equal seasons. Harden is ahead in scoring, but Curry is up in assists. Pretty standard stuff since one is a shooting guard and the other is a point guard. (Although, I love that Harden is averaging a career-high 6.6 assists per game, which is second to LeBron James among non- point guards, and a near 90 percent clip from the foul line while leading the league in attempts.) Here are the three things that give Harden an edge for me: First, the Warriors are a much better, more complete team. Sounds like a plus for Curry, but Harden has done most of the heavy lifting in keeping the Rockets within four of the Warriors for the best record in the league. Curry is magnificent, but his team is loaded with two-way athletes in a manner that the Rockets are not. The overall talent is stronger in Golden State than in Houston, thus, making Hardens achievements this season more impressive. Second, when you are literally the butt of social media jokes about how horrendous a defender you are, it shows something to improve. Harden is not quite Gary Payton, but his defense has improved tremendously. Hes 12th in defensive rating and second in defensive win shares. Granted, those numbers changed with the arrival of Trevor Ariza and the continued solid defense from Dwight Howard, but Harden went from punch line to serviceable. The Rockets are third in opponents scoring and fourth in opponents field goal percentage. Last season, they were 23rd and seventh in those same categories. Harden isnt at the heart of the turnaround, but hes no longer weighing them down defensively like an anvil chained to the leg of a mob informant. Finally, during an 11-game stretch when Howard was down with a knee injury from mid-November to mid-December, Harden kept the Rockets afloat, going 8-3 in the process. During that stretch, Harden averaged 29 points and 6.1 assists per game. Curry hasnt had to deal with anything like that. Adversity shouldnt translate into automatic MVP victory. Its not the Oscars, where an actress will win if she plays an alcoholic, single-mother stripper, whose daughter is a piano prodigy and mom must find a way to work a third job to pay for a good teacher as well as trips abroad so the daughter can perform in recitals. Harden has kept the Rockets near the top of the league without a supporting cast like Currys. While Ariza has been a revelation, Howard is averaging nine- season lows in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Harden has taken a team, Ill admit, I had missing the playoffs, and got them the fourth-best record in the NBA. With less around him, I go Harden over Curry. COACH OF THE YEAR - STEVE KERR, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS This is possibly the closest competition for an award I can remember. How could you not like Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks? With a stunningly similar roster that finished under .500 last season, Bud has the Hawks atop the Eastern Conference by four games (Al Horford is really important, too). However, Kerr gets my nod for the simple fact that he made extraordinary coaching decisions that paid massive dividends. He started Harrison Barnes andd Draymond Green over Andre Iguodala and David Lee.dddddddddddd Kerr put two infants in there at the expense of 21 combined seasons, three All-Star appearances and $27 million in 2014-15 salary. And its worked unbelievably. His lineup changed meant the Warriors starters can switch almost any time without massive consequence. Kerr had the hard job of replacing Mark Jackson, who is not quite Phil Jackson, but had the eternal respect of his players. Kerr erased any doubts, and quickly. I will fault no one who votes Budenholzer, but I think Kerr has done just a little more. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - ANDREW WIGGINS, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES Since Jabari Parkers injury, Wiggins was destined to pull away some. He has, but he would have even if Parkers ACL didnt tear. Over the last 10 games, Wiggins is averaging 21 ppg. Granted, they are all Timberwolves losses, but Wiggins game is rounding out nicely. Remember, he started slowly at Kansas, then emerged. As the T-wolves continue to be terrible, Wiggins is getting a chance to develop greatly. Shabazz Mohammeds insertion into the starting lineup, thus moving Wiggins to the shooting guard, paid off handsomely for the No. 1 pick as well. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - DRAYMOND GREEN, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS Know who leads the league in Defensive Rating and Defensive Win Shares? Draymond Green. Know how to calculate either of those? (Not rhetorical, please help me.) The Warriors rank first in opponents field goal percentage. Green is one integral piece of that team-oriented puzzle. Andrew Bogut is a top-five defensive big man. Kyle Thompson and Andre Iguodala are both upper echelon wing defenders. Steph Curry is underrated and leads the league in steals. But heres why I like Green so much for this award - hes a wonderful combination of all of those things and that versatility is what makes the Warriors a stout defense. Golden State can constantly switch anything because players like Green can cover all five positions. To have that kind of flexibility is huge. Green is the best demonstration of that. SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR - LOU WILLIAMS, TORONTO RAPTORS Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers, Ryan Anderson of the New Orleans Pelicans, Williams, Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Isaiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns are all close in scoring. I feel like Williams and Thomas have done more for their teams in terms of helping them win games. I feel like Williams did more when DeMar DeRozan was gone to help Toronto keep pace. Thomas missed a few too many games. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER - JIMMY BUTLER, CHICAGO BULLS Ill say it - I hate this award. Its too hard to figure out the meaning of a three-word award. Too many people vote for someone who gets more playing time than the season before. Is that technically improvement or did that player just receive a mountains worth of more run? Or did the player improve so much during camp, that he forced his way into this new-found time? Ive always favored the player who improves, not the one who receives more playing time, although, Ive softened on that. There is a reasonable argument to be made that a player like an Alex Len of the Suns improved enough to crack the rotation. But, Im going with a player who didnt receive a bump in minutes. That wouldve been next to impossible considering Jimmy Butler shared the league lead in minutes per game last season. Hes first again this season. In literally ONE MORE MINUTE of playing time per game this campaign than last, here is the tale of Jimmy Butler: 2013-14 2014-15 Points per game: 13.1 20.9 Assists per game: 2.6 3.4 Rebounds per game: 4.9 6.2 3-point percentage: 28.3 34.2 field goal percentage: 39.7 46.4 free throw percentage: 76.9 83.0 Thats with ONE MORE MINUTE a game. Theres not a better example of improvement in the league. ' ' '