Yankees 3, Padres 0
Ivan Nova tossed seven sizzling innings and Curtis Granderson belted a two-run homer in the seventh as visiting New York evened its interleague series with San Diego at one game apiece.
Granderson had two of his team's five hits and scored on Jayson Nix's RBI single in the ninth inning. The Yankees improved to 2-2 on their eight-game road trip and moved 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the final wild-card spot in the American League.
Tyson Ross (2-5) suffered the hard-luck loss after permitting two runs on three hits while striking out nine in six-plus innings. The converted reliever's lone mistake came in the seventh after Granderson jumped on a 1-0 fastball and deposited it over the right-field wall.
Granderson's second blast this season was enough for Nova (5-4), who received zero runs of support in his last two trips to the mound. The 26-year-old Dominican yielded four hits and struck out eight while notching his fifth consecutive outing of at least seven innings.
David Robertson worked around Chase Headley's second hit of the night to retire the side in the eighth inning. Mariano Rivera secured his 35th save with a perfect ninth to hand the Padres their fourth loss in 12 outings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York 3B Alex Rodriguez collected four walks during a rehab game with Double-A Trenton on Saturday. The 38-year-old, who is nursing a Grade 1 quad strain, is hoping to rejoin the Yankees in Chicago for Monday's game against the White Sox - although multiple reports have Major League Baseball poised to issue a lengthy suspension on that day. ... Padres LF Carlos Quentin missed his third straight game with a sore right knee. ... Ross fell to 0-3 in his career versus the Yankees.