A-Rod belts two more HRs as Yanks blast Royals

Sep 9, 2007, 3:16 GMT

Kansas City, MO - Alex Rodriguez hit a pair of homers to give him 51 for the season, and the New York third baseman broke a record in the process as the Yankees smashed the Kansas City Royals, 11-5, at Kauffman Stadium.

Rodriguez had a two-run drive with nobody out in the fourth inning and then in his next at-bat hit his 51st, a leadoff shot to left field in the sixth. Both were off Brian Bannister.

Rodriguez, who became just the fourth player in Yankees history to reach 50 home runs, has hit 49 of them while playing third base, breaking the major league record of 48 by Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt (1980) and Seattle's Adrian Beltre (2004) for most in a single year at that position.

Despite nursing a sore ankle, Rodriguez has hit eight homers in his last 10 games. It also gave Rodriguez 515 career homers, moving within six of Willie McCovey and Ted Williams, who are tied for 15th on the all-time list. He also joined Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as the only Yankees to ever reach 50 in a season.

It's the third time Rodriguez has hit at least 50 homers in a season. His career-best was 57 for Texas in 2002.

'It's special,' Rodriguez said. 'We're in the middle of a pennant race. What I did in Texas was a little bit different scenario. It's a lot more special here in New York.'

Wilson Betemit blasted a three-run homer, while Johnny Damon had three hits, including a two-run shot, for the Yankees, who remained three games ahead of Detroit in the American League wild card race. New York also pulled within 5 1/2 games for the lead in the AL East, as Boston lost at Baltimore, 11-5, Saturday night.

Andy Pettitte (13-8) was charged with seven hits and two runs over 6 1/3 innings to win for the seventh time in eight decisions.

The Yankees won their fourth straight contest and will go for the three-game sweep Sunday afternoon with Chien-Ming Wang on the mound.

Bannister (12-8), who had a four-start winning streak broken, was charged with seven hits and seven runs in five-plus frames.

Shane Costa and Emil Brown each had two RBI for the Royals, losers of four in a row.

Betemit walked with one out in the third, and with two down Damon blasted his 10th homer of the year.

Bobby Abreu doubled to start the fourth inning. Rodriguez, who has already established a Yankee record for most homers in a single season by a right- handed batter, then blasted a 3-1 offering from Bannister over the wall in center field. That gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead.

'This kid's a great player,' Royals manager Buddy Bell said of Rodriguez. 'He's been a great player for a long time. Hitting in this lineup certainly doesn't hurt, but he's having a tremendous year, an MVP year. That's for sure.'

Brown doubled in two runs in the bottom of the inning, but Rodriguez struck again in the sixth, a shot to left leading off the frame.

It was only the start of a big inning for New York, which sent 12 men to the plate, scoring seven times. Hideki Matsui was hit by a pitch and Jorge Posada walked. Ryan Braun then entered from the bullpen, and one out later Betemit homered to center field.

Melky Cabrera singled and Damon doubled, and another run scored on Alberto Gonzalez's fielder's choice. Abreu doubled in two more for a 11-2 margin.

Rodriguez was hit by a pitch in the eighth and was pinch-run for by Shelley Duncan.

Costa, in a pinch-hit role, grounded out to force a run in the eighth. Mike Sweeney singled in a run in the ninth, and another Costa groundout accounted for the final margin.

Game Notes

Pettitte passed the 2,500 innings pitched mark in his career...Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter left the game in the fifth inning due to right knee stiffness and is not expected to play Sunday...The Yankees are 8-1 against the Royals this season and 15-3 since the start of 2006.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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