Surging Yankees edge A's

Yankee Derek Jeter forces Ryan Sweeney at second after Bobby Abreu lost a fly ball in the sun in the ninth. (SETH WENIG/Associated Press)

Derek Jeter didn't know what happened. Mariano Rivera appeared just as lost. And if Ryan Sweeney had any idea, Oakland might have won.

Instead, Rivera closed out a stellar performance by Andy Pettitte in a wild ninth inning, making Jason Giambi's homer and Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly stand up in the Yankees' 2-1 win over the Athletics yesterday in New York.

"This is what we expect," manager Joe Girardi said of his team's three-game sweep.

The Yankees (53-45) won their seventh straight at home and climbed a season-best eight games over .500 entering a three-game series tonight against Minnesota. The winning streak at Yankee Stadium is their longest since last September.

Pettitte outpitched All-Star Justin Duchscherer and went eight innings before turning it over to Rivera, who got the first out in the ninth without any trouble.

Then Sweeney singled and Bobby Crosby followed with a high fly to right that gave Bobby Abreu problems as he looked into the sun. He made the grab - momentarily - then dropped the ball, and first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled that Abreu never caught it.

The right fielder immediately threw to second trying to catch Sweeney, who had retreated to first base, but the throw sailed over Jeter's head. Alertly backing up the play, Rodriguez cut it off and made the toss to Jeter just in time to force out Sweeney.

Mets 7, Reds 5 - Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion hit one of Cincinnati's three homers off Mike Pelfrey, then made a throwing error in the 10th inning that helped visiting New York rally for a split of their four-game series.

The Mets have won 11 of their last 13 games. The latest victory left them in a first-place tie with Philadelphia in the NL East heading into their three-game series at Shea Stadium that starts tomorrow.

Robinson Cancel opened the 10th with a double off Bill Bray (2-1), his first extra-base hit in the majors since 1999 with Milwaukee. Jose Reyes then bunted for a single, his fourth hit of the game.

Argenis Reyes grounded to Encarnacion, who looked Cancel back to third and then tried to start a double play. Instead, he threw the ball into center field, letting in the go-ahead run.

Marlins 3, Phillies 2 - Jorge Cantu hit a bases-loaded single off the scoreboard with none out in the 11th, enabling host Florida to tighten the NL East race.

By winning two of three games in the series, the Marlins closed to within one-half game of Philadelphia, which is tied with the Mets for first place.

Blue Jays 9, Rays 4 - Alex Rios and Marco Scutaro homered, helping visiting Toronto avoid a three-game sweep.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 5 - Andre Ethier hit a go-ahead triple to highlight a five-run ninth-inning rally as visiting Los Angeles beat Arizona.

The Dodgers took two of three from Arizona to pull even with the Diamondbacks atop the NL West.

Cardinals 9, Padres 5 - Aaron Miles's grand slam in the ninth, the first game-ending hit of his career, helped host St. Louis recover from another blown save by Jason Isringhausen (his eighth) to wrap up a four-game sweep of San Diego.

Cubs 9, Astros 0 - Ryan Dempster struck out seven in eight shutout innings to earn his first road win in two years and Chicago routed Houston to snap a three-game losing streak.

Rangers 1, Twins 0 - Taylor Teagarden broke up Scott Baker's perfect-game bid with a sixth-inning home run for his first career hit, and Vicente Padilla pitched visiting Texas past Minnesota.

Indians 6, Mariners 2 - Cliff Lee followed up his All-Star start with his second complete game of the season, scattering 11 hits in Cleveland's victory over host Seattle.

Royals 8, White Sox 7 - Esteban German hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth to lead visiting Kansas City past Chicago.

Tigers 5, Orioles 1 - Justin Verlander came within an out of completing a three-hitter, Magglio Ordonez and Marcus Thames hit solo homers, and Detroit handed host Baltimore its 15th consecutive Sunday loss.

Rockies 11, Pirates 3 - Matt Holliday and Jeff Baker homered and had three hits each, Aaron Cook won his team-leading 12th game and host Colorado completed a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh.

Nationals 15, Braves 6 - Former Brave Willie Harris drove in five runs and reached base five times, Jesus Flores had four hits and Austin Kearns hit a two-run homer as visiting Washington routed Atlanta.

Brewers 7, Giants 4 - Ryan Braun hit a three-run home run and drove in a career-high five runs, lefthander Manny Parra had a run-scoring single en route to winning his eighth straight decision, and visiting Milwaukee completed a season sweep of San Francisco.