Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Alex Rodriguez homered in his fourth straight game as the New York Yankees beat the San Diego Padres, 8-5, for their season-high sixth straight victory.

Rodriguez and Johnny Damon each had three hits and two runs driven in. Wilson Betemit also had three hits and an RBI for the Yankees.

Darrell Rasner (4-4) got the win as he went five frames and gave up just two runs on three hits. Mariano Rivera earned his 19th save of the year with a scoreless ninth, finishing a game that saw a one-hour, 18-minute rain delay at the start.

"The whole team is swinging the bat with a lot of confidence. I think that's very contagious," Rodriguez said.

Edgar Gonzalez had two doubles and two RBI for the Padres, who have lost three in a row and four of five overall. Brian Giles, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley each hit a solo home run in defeat.

Jake Peavy (5-4) took the loss as he was roughed up for four runs -- three earned -- on six hits in four innings.

"The Yankees are definitely going to work the count and foul off good pitches," Peavy said. "You're facing All-Stars for the first six batters or so...I struggled, just because of the unfamiliarity with a lot of these guys. I didn't have a whole lot of footage to go off of."

The Yankees got on the board, 1-0, in the first as Damon led off with a single and Derek Jeter worked a walk. Bobby Abreu then grounded into what appeared to be a 4-6-3 double play, but Jeter slid hard into second and forced Khalil Greene to throw the ball away, allowing Abreu to reach base safely and Damon to come around.

An inning later, Robinson Cano belted a one-out double over the head of PaulMcAnulty in left and Betemit followed with an RBI ground-rule double down the left field line. Damon followed with a single up the middle that allowed Betemit to cross home plate, as New York assumed a 3-0 lead after two innings of play.

San Diego rallied in the third to cut its deficit to 3-2. Greene led off the frame with a walk and Luke Carlin followed with a single. Jody Gerut then grounded into a force out, leaving runners at the corners. Edgar Gonzalez kept it going with a double to center field that plated the two runners.

Rodriguez belted a solo homer into San Diego's bullpen in the third to give the Yankees a two-run lead.

"Peavy's an awesome competitor. I wish we had him on our team," Rodriguez said. "Though we didn't get a lot of runs early, we worked a lot of deep counts."

Bryan Corey took over for Peavy before the fifth and gave up a one-out single to Rodriguez, who stole second base. Jason Giambi then popped up for the second out, but Jorge Posada increased his hitting streak to five games with an RBI single to right, giving the Yanks a 5-2 lead.

Edwar Ramirez surrendered back-to-back home runs to Giles and Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh, making it a 5-4 ballgame.

NY answered in the home seventh. Jeter led off with a double and came around when Abreu followed with a single. Cla Meredith was called on in relief and gave up an RBI single to Rodriguez, and NY was on top 7-4.

Kyle Farnsworth pitched for the Yankees in the eighth and gave up a home run to Headley -- his first major league homer -- to make it a two-run game.

The Yankees made it 8-5 in the home eighth. Betemit had a one-out double, moved to third on Melky Cabrera's ground out and scored on Damon's single.

Rivera was called on in the ninth to close it out, but gave up a lead off double to Edgar Gonzalez. Giles was caught looking at the third strike for the first out. Adrian Gonzalez then popped out to Jeter, who tug second for an unassisted double play that ended the game.