A-Rod takes another swing at 500 for homer-happy Yanks

Aug 1, 2007, 16:20 GMT

- New York Yankees All-Star Alex Rodriguez still needs one more home run to become the 22nd player in history to reach 500. Tonight, he will lead the Bronx Bombers in the second test of a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium.

Rodriguez is still sitting on 499 career home runs after finishing 0-for-5 in Tuesday's 16-3 bashing of the White Sox in the series opener. He is now hitless in 17 at-bats since he belted home run No. 499 at Kansas City on July 25. The 32-year-old third baseman is also trying to become the youngest player in history to reach the 500-homer mark.

The rest of the Yankees picked up the slack last night, as Hideki Matsui hit two of eight New York home runs. Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon, and Shelley Duncan also went deep for the Yankees, who equaled a club record for homers in a game. They also went deep eight times on June 28, 1939 versus Philadelphia in the opener of a doubleheader.

Starting pitcher Mike Mussina allowed six hits and three runs and fanned six over six innings to get the win.

New York, which sits within three games of Cleveland for the lead in the American League wild card standings, has won two straight since a three-game losing streak and was victorious for the 13th time in 18 tries.

In trade news for the Bronx Bombers, the club sent reliever Scott Proctor to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Wilson Betemit on Tuesday.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte tries to get back in the win column when he takes the ball tonight against the White Sox. Pettitte is 6-7 with a 4.11 ERA in 24 games (22 starts) this season.

He had been 2-0 in four starts before losing to Baltimore on Friday. Pettitte was reached for three runs and eight hits in seven innings of a 4-2 loss to the Orioles.

The left-hander will face Chicago for the 21st time in his career and is 10-8 with three complete games and a 4.59 earned run average over 20 lifetime appearances against the White Sox. Pettitte last faced Chicago on June 23, 2006 and was reached for six runs in four innings of a 7-4 setback.

Last night Juan Uribe clubbed a three-run homer for the White Sox, who have lost two in a row and seven of their last 12 games. White Sox starter Jose Contreras, who leads the majors in defeats, surrendered eight hits -- including three homers -- and seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. The right-hander has lost seven consecutive starts.

Toeing the rubber for the Pale Hose this evening will be rookie John Danks, who is 6-7 with a 4.83 ERA in 19 starts in 2007.

Danks is 0-1 with a 4.97 ERA over his last two starts and did not factor in the outcome last Thursday against Detroit. Danks allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-3 win against the Tigers.

The left-hander squared off with the Yankees for the first time in his career on May 16 and recorded the win. Danks yielded just a pair of runs and seven hits through 6 1/3 innings of a 5-3 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

New York is 5-3 against the White Sox this season and 9-5 over the previous 14 encounters between the teams.

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