With the souvenir ball from his 400th save nestled in the pocket of his mitt, Mariano Rivera got a warm hug from a grateful Joe Torre and flashed his proudest smile.

“It’s amazing, amazing to even think about it,” Rivera said yesterday after escaping two jams and getting six outs to preserve the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. “I’ve been blessed.”

Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer and Derek Jeter connected for the first time in two months to give New York an early lead against Freddy Garcia.

Jaret Wright (6-5) got into the sixth inning – allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out one – and his bullpen held on, sending the Yankees to their first series sweep of the White Sox since May 2002.

Rivera became the fourth major league pitcher to reach 400 saves – and he had to work hard for this one.

With a four-run lead suddenly down to two, Torre pulled setup man Kyle Farnsworth with two runners on and none out in the eighth. The sellout crowd of 54,781 burst into a huge ovation as Rivera entered.

After seven pitches, the Yankees were out of trouble in the eighth. Rivera retired Juan Uribe on a popup before speedy Scott Podsednik grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Chicago’s first two batters reached safely in the ninth, but Rivera got Paul Konerko to hit into a double play and struck out Jermaine Dye to end it.

“For me, and I’ve said it, he has the single best pitch ever in the game,” Chicago’s Jim Thome said. “A lot of guys, you can make some adjustments. But not with that cutter.”

It was Rivera’s 21st save in 23 chances. The other pitchers with 400 saves are Lee Smith (478), Trevor Hoffman (460), and John Franco (424).

The Yankees have won seven of eight since a 19-1 drubbing in Cleveland on July 4 and are a season-high 17 games above .500.

Due to injuries, the Yankees started a makeshift outfield of Melky Cabrera, Bubba Crosby, and Aaron Guiel. But the plug-ins came through. Cabrera doubled, scored, and threw out a runner at the plate to thwart a rally. Crosby hit an RBI double, and Guiel cut down a runner at second base from right field.

“I think by far our three best games,” Jason Giambi said. “We’re doing little things, we’re getting big hits when we need them, our starting pitching is really starting to come together.”

The homers by Jeter and Rodriguez (his 20th) in the bottom half put the Yankees in front to stay. It was Jeter’s first in 190 at-bats, since May 16.