NEW YORK -- Another save? You'd have to excuse Mariano Rivera if that particular milestone didn't boost his excitement level -- after all, he's been there and done that, now 500 times and still counting.

It was Rivera's first career RBI Sunday night that really captured his imagination, coming on the same evening that the 39-year-old closer became the second member of baseball's most prestigious club for closers by recording the final four outs of a 4-2 Yankees victory over the Mets at Citi Field.

"The RBI is the best," Rivera said. "It was my first RBI. It was my 500th save."

Batting for the third time in a regular-season game -- but making his second plate appearance in five days -- Rivera crammed on a borrowed Cody Ransom batting helmet and worked a seven-pitch walk with the bases loaded against Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning.

Ball four sailed high and in to force home the Yankees' fourth run, a valuable insurance run as Rivera logged the 65th four-out save of his career. He joined Trevor Hoffman, who has 571 saves, as the only hurlers to record 500 or more since it became an official statistic in 1969.

"You can add up all the players that ever played the game, and Mo has been as consistent as anyone," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "He's done it in the regular season, he's done it in the postseason, he's done it in Spring Training, he's done it in the Minor Leagues. He's done it everywhere he's been."

It was on Wednesday that Rivera dug in against the Braves' Manny Acosta, ignoring instructions from the dugout not to swing -- after all, he quite reasonably believed that would be his last big league at-bat -- while lining out to center field on an 0-1 fastball. The Yankees had a four-run lead at that time; here in the Subway Series, Rivera could really help his cause.

"I was so impressed by his at-bat in Atlanta, I felt, 'You know what? He's got a shot,'" Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I really felt that he had a shot. He's such a great athlete that I felt like if he got a fastball that was a strike, he had a shot."

Rivera had been summoned in the eighth after Chien-Ming Wang went 5 1/3 innings and the bullpen brought the Yankees close to a series sweep of their crosstown rivals. Rivera answered the call, striking out Omir Santos looking to strand two Mets aboard before setting down the side around a single in the ninth to lock down his 18th save in 19 opportunities this season.

"I don't look for records or things like that," Rivera said. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to play baseball and win World Series. If it happens, it happens. But I don't come here to chase records."

After the final out, first baseman Mark Teixeira presented Rivera with the ball and offered him a hug. A sequence of teammates followed with embraces for Rivera, as the longest-tenured Yankees -- Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte -- all shared special words.

"I wanted to be there," Posada said. "Mariano's meant a lot to me. He's made my job a lot easier. He's the best ever. No one can even compare."

Said Rivera: "I think they were more happy than I was."

Rivera's 500 saves are the most in American League history, and most remarkably, they were all accomplished on the strength of one pitch -- the right-hander's trademark cut fastball.

"Great movement, late movement," Girardi said. "Hitters really couldn't pick it up. They knew it was coming, and the movement was so late and so sharp that they couldn't really adjust to it.

"I remember left-handed hitters saying that the only place they could really hit it hard was over the first-base dugout, because it was so late and sharp. You couldn't keep it fair. I don't know if we'll ever see another Mariano Rivera. I really don't believe we will."

A former catcher, Girardi was there for save No. 1 on May 17, 1996, when Rivera was called in to induce Garret Anderson to hit into a game-ending double play and close out an 8-5 victory for Pettitte -- the beginning of a beautiful relationship that would, to date, produce a Major League-record combination of 59 wins and saves for the pair.

"I was traded here in '96, and I saw him in Spring Training," Girardi said. "I'm not sure if it was the first day or the second day, when you catch guys. I remember asking myself, 'Who is this guy? He's got great stuff.' Little did I know what an impact he'd have on the '96 season and, really, the next 14."

A nine-time AL All-Star, Rivera has been the Yankees' closer since 1997, when he assumed the job after serving as a setup man to John Wetteland in helping the club win the first of four World Series titles within a five-year span.

"The quicker I finish, the quicker I can go home," Rivera said. "All these guys have been here for so many hours, and when we get to the last inning, they want to go home. I don't want to waste their time."

As Rivera recounted on Sunday, he was first informed of his future during the 1996-97 offseason, when former manager Joe Torre called him at home in Panama and told him that he would be the closer upon reporting to Spring Training that season.

"I was just happy to be in the big leagues," Rivera said. "I wasn't thinking to achieve anything. I just wanted to be in the big leagues and do the best that I could for my team. I didn't expect any of this. We have accomplished so many things and goals. It just happens."

Rivera was in position for the milestone after securing a four-run lead on Thursday at Atlanta, throwing six pitches and recording the final out in save No. 499, one day after he struck out all four batters he faced for the first time in his career.

"I'm proud of what I have done with the team," Rivera said. "I'm proud of my teammates. I'm proud of everything we have accomplished. Every time I have the chance to wear this uniform, I'm proud."

Rivera had arthroscopic surgery after last season to shave down an AC joint in his right shoulder. He was among the Major Leagues' best closers in 2008, posting the lowest ERA (1.40) among hurlers with at least 70 innings pitched.

Restoring velocity quickly and rebounding from that procedure well while still providing the Yankees with a quality option in the late innings, Rivera said that he does not know how much longer he will continue pitching. But as long as he keeps on icing opponents, there's no rush to exit.

"Until God wants me to," Rivera said. "I have a contract for another year. I don't know what's going to happen after that. I feel good, so I don't know what's going to happen."

NEW YORK -- The no-hitter A.J. Burnett keeps holstered in his list of career achievements is not one he is particularly proud of, with his nine walks that day having opened him up to plenty of snide clubhouse remarks over the years.

Since that 2003 success, Burnett has searched for another to add to his mantle, and he gave it a strong bid on Saturday. Burnett held the Mets hitless into the sixth inning and allowed just one hit over seven dominant frames, striking out a season-high 10 batters as the Yankees posted a 5-0 victory at Citi Field.

Stifling the Mets with a high-octane fastball and quality curveball, Burnett said he began thinking about history as early as the fourth inning. His hopes were buoyed in the fifth by Melky Cabrera, who raced into the left-center-field gap to flag Daniel Murphy's deep drive before crashing into the padded fence.

"That's when you start thinking it might happen, even when you're on the field," said Burnett, who pumped both arms in the air to celebrate Cabrera's running grab. "To have guys out there running around and diving everywhere makes you go harder. That's the big thing about this team -- these guys play hard all the time."

"I knew he was going to be throwing a good game because he has good stuff, so I was going to be going all-out on that ball, and that's what I did," Cabrera said through an interpreter.

The no-hit bid finally met its end in the sixth when Alex Cora led off by lining a fat curveball into center field. It was the infielder's first hit against Burnett in 22 career at-bats, and Burnett wasn't shocked.

"That was one of those pitches that as soon as I let it go, I saw him hitting it," Burnett said. "Before he even hit it, I knew it was going to be a base hit."

Despite that disappointment, the Yankees were offered a tantalizing back-to-back glimpse of their combined $243.5 million investment, as Burnett mastered the Mets one night after CC Sabathia held them to one run on three hits in seven innings.

"You could say I was inspired, definitely," Burnett said. "I thought about his game all last night and I've told him a handful of times during the season, 'I can't wait to throw behind you, big man.' I just wanted to keep that same tone."

"It is what you imagine," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You can't expect them to give up three hits one night and one the next night -- every night. But we do expect them to pitch at a very high level, and that's what they've done in this series."

Jorge Posada hit a three-run homer to supplement Nick Swisher's earlier solo shot, toppling starter Tim Redding as the Yankees defeated their crosstown rivals for the fourth time in five contests this season and clinched the season series.

"We made him work," Girardi said. "I think our guys had a pretty good idea of what he was going to try to do to them. It looked like he made some mistakes, and our guys didn't miss them."

Swisher connected in the third inning for his 14th home run, a rare Citi Field opposite-field blast to left-center. The Yankees extended the lead in the sixth off Redding, as Mark Teixeira drilled a one-out double to deep center field and Alex Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring single up the middle.

"It's a pretty good team over there," Cora said, "and when the third baseman is hitting, it's a great team."

Robinson Cano belted a gift double that Gary Sheffield did not pursue into the left-field corner, and after a mound visit, Posada clubbed a three-run shot to left-center field. That homer chased Redding, who was charged with five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"We're simplifying things and having a plan when we come to the plate," Posada said. "Seeing what they're trying to do against us and getting good pitches to hit later in the game -- that game plan is paying off."

It was plenty of support for Burnett, who has rebounded from a poor June 9 start at Boston to limit opponents to one earned run on 10 hits through his past 20 1/3 innings, including two starts against the Mets.

"It comes down to pitching ahead and trusting my stuff," Burnett said. "Obviously, you want to pitch a little more ahead than I did tonight, but I don't need to be fine and paint on the corner. I just need to stay in my lanes and let the fastball get ahead to put them away as fast as I can."

Burnett was consoled by Girardi after the Cora single with this information -- the Yankees wanted him to go no higher than 115 pitches anyway, and thanks to a rapidly rising pitch count, the right-hander wouldn't have had a chance to finish off a potential no-hitter.

With Brian Bruney and Dave Robertson each firing a scoreless inning to close it out, Burnett would have no problem settling for the consolation prize -- the Yankees' fourth straight road victory and their second successive win over the Mets, having outscored them, 14-1, and out-hit them, 22-4, through the first two games of the weekend series.

"We're clicking on all cylinders," Burnett said. "We've got the offense swinging the bats, and the starters and bullpen are doing their job. When we click like that, it's definitely fun to watch and fun to be a part of."

QUEENS, NY --  No matter how many times CC Sabathia said he felt fine and no matter that he threw a clean bullpen session earlier in the week, Joe Girardi wasn't going to be convinced his ace's arm was sound until he had more proof. Early in Friday night's game against the Mets, the Yankee manager got it when he peered up at the Citi Field scoreboard and saw the velocity readings as Sabathia throttled the Mets.

Sabathia consistently threw 95 miles per hour - he even hit 98 at least once - and quickly squashed any worry about the tender biceps that knocked him out of his last start in the second inning and caused debate whether he should even take the ball Friday night.

Sabathia also squashed the bungling Mets, who this time were not doomed by a dropped pop-up in the last inning, but rather three errors in an awful second inning. Helped by that four-run outburst and home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Brett Gardner, the Yankees topped the Mets, 9-1, in the opener of the second round of the Subway Series in front of a sellout crowd of 41,278. The start of the game was delayed 52 minutes by rain.

The Yankees have scored 28 runs since Girardi's sixth-inning ejection in the second game of their series in Atlanta and are beginning to feel like their old selves again, having won three straight. "It feels more normal," Girardi said. "When we were struggling to score runs, I was saying, 'This isn't our offense.' Hopefully, this hot streak lasts a really long time."

The Mets, meanwhile, hope this is the last they see of awful fielding in Subway Series games. Luis Castillo's dropped pop-up cost them the first game the teams played this season, and Friday night's error-fest was made more embarrassing by the fact that the Mets had gathered on the field early Friday afternoon for extra fielding work.

The Mets, who saw a two-game winning streak end and blew a chance to take over first place from the plummeting Phillies, have been soaring or sinking all week. Some of that, Jerry Manuel said, is due to the injured players they are missing. "When you have that, you're not going to get that consistency throughout," Manuel said.

Rodriguez's two-run homer to right-center in the eighth was the 564th of his career, moving him past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time list. Gardner was 5-for-6, including an eighth-inning homer and an RBI triple in the ninth. The Yankees outhit the Mets, 14-3.

ATLANTA -- As Alex Rodriguez prepared for the closing ceremonies at the old Yankee Stadium, he joshed with Reggie Jackson, warning the Hall of Famer that he'd come back gunning for him on baseball's home run list. On Thursday, A-Rod caught Mr. October, hitting the 563rd home run of his Major League career and tying Jackson -- now a Yankees front-office advisor -- for 11th place all time in the Yankees' 11-7 victory over the Braves.

"Obviously, big picture, that's quite an honor to tie Reggie," Rodriguez said. "I'm sure Mr. October is going to have a lot to say about that."

Rodriguez hit the solo shot off Braves starter Derek Lowe in the top of the first inning, with his first swing sending the ball over the 400-foot marker in center field to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead.

A-Rod finished the evening 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored, saying that he expected to have messages from Jackson waiting for him at some point.

"I haven't checked, but I'm sure there's going to be multiple," Rodriguez said.

Jackson expressed some of his feelings about Rodriguez's pursuit in a Feb. 25 chat with reporters, acknowledging that Rodriguez would soon "blow by me like I'm standing still."

Jackson chuckled at that comment, but the Hall of Fame slugger said that he also has a problem with players who played in the era of performance-enhancing substances surpassing him on hallowed lists.

Six players have now hit the 563-homer mark since Jackson's retirement, though among them, only Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

"I guess I get angry sometimes," Jackson said then. "I've been reprimanded by the Commissioner [Bud Selig] and the president of our team. I pleaded with them to say, 'Try to understand. I'm personally involved. I'm selfish today and made some negative comments.'

"I'm hurt and bewildered. I don't know if we'll ever get through it. We're all hurt, and it's in our lifetimes."

Asked Thursday if it is awkward for him to pass players like Jackson, Rodriguez replied, "No, not at all. Just happy to be playing baseball."

The homer, Rodriguez's 10th since returning from the disabled list on May 8, also ended a 69-at-bat road homerless drought for the slugger, his longest streak since June 25-July 25, 1997.