Chamberlain solid in NY win

No W, but 9 K's for righty as Yankees trim Padres

St. Louis's Jason LaRue ponders what went wrong after missing a tag in the fourth. The Cardinals begin a series at Fenway tonight. (Tom Gannam/Associated Press)

Joe Girardi signaled to the bullpen before he reached the mound. He wasn't going to let Joba Chamberlain talk him out of it.

The Yankees manager would love for the converted reliever to get his first win as a starter, but not at the expense of throwing too many pitches. Chamberlain would have to settle for another no-decision and a career-high nine strikeouts in New York's 2-1 win yesterday at Yankee Stadium to sweep the Padres.

"Your heart wants to do it," Girardi said, "but your head tells you that you need to make a change."

Chamberlain gave up one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings and threw 100 pitches in his fourth start. He also helped prevent a run, blocking home plate to make a tag.

"I understand it's June," he said, "and this is my first time getting to 100 in the big leagues."

Jose Veras (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings to earn the win. Kyle Farnsworth worked the eighth to set up Mariano Rivera, who struck out the side in the ninth for his 20th save in 20 chances.

New York extended its longest winning streak of the season to seven and improved to seven games above .500 for the first time this year. The Padres have dropped five of six.

Alex Rodriguez drove in Derek Jeter with a single in the sixth off Josh Banks (2-1). Jeter had singled, stolen second, and moved up on Bobby Abreu's grounder to first.

The Yankees got their first run without a hit to tie the score an inning earlier. Melky Cabrera walked with one out, then stole second and third. Jose Molina drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

"That means we can play small ball, too," Molina said. "We're not waiting for the home run all the time."

Brewers 8, Blue Jays 7 - Dave Bush took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before it was broken up by the player he was traded for, and host Milwaukee held on to edge Toronto.

Lyle Overbay opened the eighth by slicing a triple just beyond the reach of diving left fielder Ryan Braun. Bush (3-7) was dealt to the Brewers in 2005 for Overbay.

Joe Inglett hit a two-out grand slam that highlighted the Blue Jays' six-run rally in the ninth. After giving up an infield hit, Salomon Torres struck out Matt Stairs for his 10th save to complete the Brewers' sweep.

Russell Branyan hit his third homer in three days, a three-run shot, and Prince Fielder had the second inside-the-park homer of his career as the Brewers built an 8-0 lead. But those drives quickly became overshadowed by Bush's attempt at history and the bullpen's battles.

Bush retired the first 15 Blue Jays before walking Gregg Zaun to open the sixth after getting ahead, 0 and 2, in the count.

In the seventh, Bush needed a pair of plays by center fielder Gabe Kapler to keep his no-hit bid intact. First, Kapler ranged to short left on a high pop fly by Stairs, then he made a running effort at the warning track to corral Scott Rolen's drive.

In the eighth, Overbay hit Bush's second pitch to shallow left field and Braun came up just short. Bush backed off the mound as he watched the ball fall safely and popped his right hand into his mitt as the crowd gave him an ovation.

Rays 8, Cubs 3 - Carl Crawford's second career grand slam was the big blow in a seven-run seventh-inning rally that carried Tampa Bay past visiting Chicago for a three-game sweep of the team with baseball's best record.

The Cubs had been the only major league club that hadn't lost more than two games in a row this season. It looked as though it would remain that way when they chased Rays starter James Shields and took a 3-1 lead in the seventh.

But reliever Carlos Marmol (1-2) opened the door for Tampa Bay's biggest inning of the season by walking the first two batters he faced, then hitting the next two with pitches to force in a run and depart with the bases loaded.

Crawford hit Scott Eyre's second pitch into the right-field stands, putting Tampa Bay ahead, 6-3.

White Sox 13, Pirates 8 - Jermaine Dye hit two homers, including a seventh-inning grand slam, and drove in six runs as Chicago finished a three-game sweep of visiting Pittsburgh.

Orlando Cabrera also homered and had four RBIs as the White Sox rallied from a 6-0 deficit with another offensive outburst against Pittsburgh. The White Sox had 19 hits in a 16-5 win in Tuesday's series opener and collected 15 more hits yesterday.

Royals 4, Cardinals 1 - Zack Greinke (6-4) combined with Ramon Ramirez and Joakim Soria for a two-hitter, and Kansas City completed its first three-game sweep of host St. Louis since 2001.

Mark Teahen missed the cycle by a double and had three RBIs for the Royals, who are 7-2 in interleague play.

Orioles 7, Astros 5 - Alex Cintron had three hits, including one of three home runs for host Baltimore, which extended Houston's losing streak to eight games.

Ramon Hernandez and Aubrey Huff also connected for the Orioles, whose last three-game sweep of an interleague foe came in June 2005 - at home against Houston. Baltimore fell behind, 2-0, before winning for the 17th time when trailing by at least two runs.

Twins 9, Nationals 3 - Michael Cuddyer hit a two-run triple and reached base all four times he batted, Glen Perkins won for the first time in five starts, and host Minnesota completed a three-game sweep of Washington.

Perkins (3-2) gave up 10 hits in eight innings, but nine of them were singles.

Rangers 5, Braves 4 - Michael Young broke out of a deep slump with a game-ending RBI single, rookie Brandon Boggs hit a three-run homer, and host Texas rallied twice to beat Atlanta.

With the score 4-4, Ian Kinsler led off the ninth with a double off Blaine Boyer (1-5). Chris Shelton popped out on a bunt attempt before Young lined a single to right off Jeff Bennett. Kinsler scored without a throw to the plate, and Young, 1 for 31 heading into the ninth, was mobbed on the field by his teammates.

Dodgers 7, Reds 4 - Matt Kemp had a homer and a two-run double, and Eric Stults pitched into the seventh inning in his season debut, leading Los Angeles to a three-game sweep at Cincinnati.

Diamondbacks 2, Athletics 1 - Justin Upton hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning off Keith Foulke (0-2) to lift Arizona past Oakland in Phoenix.

Rockies 6, Indians 3 - Jorge De La Rosa (2-3) struck out a career-high 10 and Willy Taveras had three hits and scored twice, leading Colorado at Denver, completing a sweep of the three-game series with Cleveland.