NEW YORK—Joba Chamberlain took another step in his conversion to the starting rotation and the Yankees used some small ball to take advantage in a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
Chamberlain struck out nine and allowed one run in tossing 100 pitchers for the Yanks, who used stolen bases to manufacture both runs in posting their seventh straight win.
Alex Rodriguez drove in the game-winning run with a line-drive single in the sixth that scored Derek Jeter, who had got into a scoring position with a steal of second.
"These are the games we need to win," Rodriguez told reporters. "This is kind of a playoff-type game — great pitching, great defense and bullpen. We knew that one run would probably be the difference."
New York tied the game 1-1 in the fifth after Melky Cabrera walked, stole second and third, and scored on Jose Molina's sacrifice fly to center.
San Diego got on the scoreboard first, going up 1-0 in the fourth inning on Tony Clark's RBI double.
Chamberlain, the hard-throwing, 22-year-old right-hander who thrived last season in the bullpen, escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second and pitched 5-2/3 innings yielding just four hits.
He was removed with one out to go in the sixth after reaching the 100-pitch mark and was relieved by Jose Veras, who picked up the win to improve to 2-0.
"I have to do what's best for the organisation's interest and the kid's interest," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
"I knew when I went out there (to pull him) it wasn't going to be a great reception."
Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth inning for his 20th save in 20 chances. The ace reliever lowered his earned run average to a minuscule 0.79.
Padres starter Josh Banks (2-1) was the hard-luck loser, yielding two runs on four hits in 5-1/3 innings.
Jeter was the only Yankee to have more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
The third-placed Yankees improved to 40-33 after completing their three-game sweep of the Padres and trail the East-leading Boston Red Sox by five games. San Diego fell to 31-43.
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