Photograph of Alex Rodriguez celebrating with third base coach Bobby Meacham after A-Rod hit a third-inning home run by Frank Franklin II/AP

• Yankees 8 Padres 5: Is it a coincidence that the Yankees have gone 19-9 since A-Rod returned to the lineup? You certainly have to give Posada some credit too, but the lineup is scoring again and the Yankees have been able to overcome some rough pitching, especially from their bullpen.

  Wednesday night the Yankees got a shaky start from Darrell Rasner, a rough relief appearance from Edwar Ramirez and the usual from Kyle Farnsworth, but they still gutted out a win thanks to their bats and Mariano. A-Rod went deep for his 14th homer of the year and the lineup chased one of the NL’s best, Jake Peavy, out of the game after the fourth inning. New York will go for the sweep this afternoon.

• Mets 5 Angels 4 (10 innings): Put it in the books, Jerry Manuel has his first win as manager and it was a great one. Trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Jose Reyes reached on a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, David Wright singled him home to tie the game. Damion Easley then homered with two outs in the tenth to give the Mets the lead and Billy Wagner made it stand up with his 16th save of the year.