Girardi would rather his pitchers not block the plate, as Chamberlain did in the second. But he appreciated the competitiveness.

With one out, Chamberlain’s pitch in the dirt got away from Molina, and Gonzalez took off. The catcher quickly tracked the ball down and threw to Chamberlain.

“I was a catcher until I was a junior in high school,” Chamberlain said. “So it brought back some memories. I guess it’s like riding a bike.”

Molina joked, “That was kind of ugly.” He added in admiration, “That means he’s a tough guy.”

Black said Gonzalez expected the ball to roll farther, but the grass is thicker behind home plate at Yankee Stadium than at other parks.

The inning had started with the Padres loading the bases with no outs, but Chamberlain wriggled out of the jam with the tag-out sandwiched between two strikeouts.

With one out in the fourth, Gonzalez tried to score on Scott Hairston’s grounder to third and was thrown out by Rodriguez.

Tony Clark drove in Brian Giles with a ground-rule double in the fourth for the Padres’ lone run.

It was the sixth time in nine games that New York pitchers allowed no more than one run. The Yankees have won nine times this year when scoring three runs or fewer; they did that six times all last season.

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“Look, without guys like Joba, you can’t win championships,” Rodriguez said. “That’s just the bottom line. We need him in the starting rotation.”

Notes: Banks gave up two runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings and was credited with his first career loss. ... It was the Yankees’ second consecutive three-game sweep against a National League team. ... Yankees DH Hideki Matsui did not start for the second straight game because of a swollen left knee. Girardi expected Matsui to return Friday. Matsui had the knee drained Wednesday. ... Giles probably saved a run with a diving catch of Johnny Damon’s sinking liner in the seventh with Molina on second.

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