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Chamberlain, red-hot Yankees host Padres

Jun 19, 2008 - 12:46 PM San Diego (31-42) at NY Yankees (39-33), 1:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Joba Chamberlain will make his fourth career start Thursday as the New York Yankees go for their seventh consecutive victory and a sweep of the San Diego Padres in the finale of a three-game interleague series.

Chamberlain (1-2, 2.48 ERA) is yet to receive a decision in any of his starts. The 22-year-old righthander, who acted as the club's setup man for the first 1 1/2 seasons of his career, is coming off his longest career outing.

in a 93-pitch performance, Chamberlain gave up a run and six hits with four walks and two strikeouts over six innings during Friday's 2-1 triumph over the Houston Astros. Since becoming a starter, Chamberlain has yielded nine walks in 12 2/3 frames.

Chamberlain can expect plenty of run support with the way the Yankees have been playing. New York has scored 43 runs over its current winning streak, including eight in each of the first two games of this series.

Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and extended his home run streak to four games as the Yankees posted an 8-5 win over the Padres on Wednesday. The reigning American League MVP, Rodriguez is batting .337 with 14 blasts and 40 RBI this season.

San Diego will turn to rookie Josh Banks (2-0, 1.29). The righthander, who is making his fifth career start, allowed three runs and five hits with four strikeouts over five frames but did not receive a decision during Friday's 9-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians.