A-Rod homers in 4th straight; Yanks win 6th in row

[June 19, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez homered for the fourth straight game and the New York Yankees held off the San Diego Padres 8-5 Wednesday night, setting a season high with their sixth consecutive victory.

Darrell Rasner snapped his four-start losing streak, with plenty of help from the Yankees offense and bullpen. New York beat NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy, chasing him after four innings in his second start since coming off the disabled list.

Johnny Damon had three hits and two RBIs for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 14 to move a season-best six games above .500. Wilson Betemit also had three hits, and Mariano Rivera worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save in 19 chances.

New York goes for its second series sweep in a row Thursday, with Joba Chamberlain on the mound.

Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez hit consecutive homers for San Diego in the seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Chase Headley added his first career home run in the eighth, trimming it to 7-5, before Kyle Farnsworth retired pinch-hitter Scott Hairston and Jody Gerut with a runner on second to end the inning.

Rodriguez finished with three hits, two RBIs and a stolen base. He also scored twice and made a nice backhand play at third with two on to end the fourth.

San Diego was not as sharp in the field, committing two more errors while falling to 11-24 on the road. The Padres made five errors in their first 10 innings on defense in this series after entering with a major league-best .990 fielding percentage.

Rasner (4-4) walked five in five innings, but yielded only two runs and three hits to rebound from a poor outing last week at Oakland.

Making his first career appearance at Yankee Stadium, Peavy (5-4) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and six hits. On a pitch count of 85-95, he lasted 93.

The right-hander missed nearly a month with a strained right elbow before returning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 last Thursday.

After the start was delayed 78 minutes by rain, the Yankees jumped ahead in the first inning. Damon led off with a single and scored on a throwing error by shortstop Khalil Greene as he tried to turn a double play.

Robinson Cano hit a booming double in the second and Betemit followed with a blooper that bounced into the left-field stands for a ground-rule double. Damon's two-out RBI single made it 3-0.

Rasner walked Greene leading off the third, and Edgar Gonzalez's two-run double snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak for New York pitchers. Headley flied out with the bases loaded, ending the inning.

Rodriguez hit a solo shot to left off Peavy in the bottom half, his 14th this season and No. 532 in his career -- two behind Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx for 14th place.

Jorge Posada's two-out RBI single off Bryan Corey in the fifth extended the lead to 5-2.

Giles connected off Edwar Ramirez with two outs in the seventh and Adrian Gonzalez followed with his 20th of the season, tying Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard for the NL RBI lead at 63.

The Yankees responded immediately in the bottom half. Derek Jeter hit a leadoff double and Bobby Abreu an RBI single against Justin Hampson. Abreu stole second and scored on Rodriguez's single off Cla Meredith to make it 7-4.

Headley hit a leadoff shot in the eighth against Farnsworth, but Damon pushed it to 8-5 with an RBI single in the bottom half.

Notes: The Padres have hit back-to-back homers four times this season. Giles and Adrian Gonzalez also accomplished the feat last Thursday. ... The Yankees are 19-9 since Rodriguez came off the disabled list May 20. They went 6-11 while he was on the DL, averaging only 3.5 runs per game. ... The Yankees have homered in 11 straight games.

[Associated Press; By MIKE FITZPATRICK]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.