Sat Aug 4 21:45:06 2007

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A-Rod blasts No. 500 as Yankees clobber Royals

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Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Alex Rodriguez hit career home run No. 500 as the New York Yankees downed the Kansas City Royals, 16-8, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Rodriguez, who turned 32 on July 27, surpassed Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach 500 career home runs.

Rodriguez smacked the first pitch he saw from Kyle Davies over the left field wall for his 36th home run of the season and became the 22nd player in MLB history to reach the 500 home run mark. He had gone 28 at-bats since his last hoe run, which occurred on July 25 against the Royals.

He is the third player to reach 500 home runs in the Yankee pinstripes, joining Hall of Famer's Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

It took Rodriguez 1,855 games to reach 500 home runs, which is the third fastest in MLB history. Mark McGwire did it in 1,639 games, while it took Ruth 1,740 games.

Rodriguez finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored and became the first player in MLB history to have at least 35 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in 10 straight seasons.

Robinson Cano went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored while Wilson Betemit added three hits and three RBI for the Yankees, who have won five of their last six games.

Phil Hughes, who had been out since May 1, made the start and gave up six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Mike Myers (3-0) got the win for recording the final out of the fifth inning.

David DeJesus hit a two-run home run and drove in three while Ross Gload went 3-for-4 with three RBI for the Royals, who have dropped four of their last five games.

Davies got the start but was roughed up for five runs on six hits in just three innings of work. John Bale (0-1) got the loss for giving up two runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

The score was tied heading into the bottom of the fifth, but New York grabbed the lead when Melky Cabrera hit into a fielder's choice to score Cano for a 7-6 advantage.

New York padded its lead in the sixth with four more runs. Bobby Abreu led off the frame with a homer to center. After the next two batters recorded outs, Jorge Posada kept the inning alive with a walk and Cano followed with a double. Joel Peralta then stepped off the mound and David Riske came in.

Betemit greeted Riske with a single to center to score Posada and Cano. Cabrera followed with a double to right-center to plate Betemit for an 11-6 lead.

The Royals got a run back in the seventh as Gload's sacrifice fly scored Mark Grudzielanek to cut the deficit to 11-7.

The Yankees, though, got the run back and more in the seventh. Derek Jeter led off the inning with a double to center and came home when Abreu followed with a single. After Rodriguez singled, Hideki Matsui roped a single to right to score Abreu. Posada followed with a walk to load the bases and Jimmy Gobble took the mound.

Cano welcomed Gobble with a two-run single and pinch-hitter Andy Phillips followed with a ground-rule double to score Posada for a 16-7 advantage.

Gload's RBI single in the ninth accounted for the final score.

The Yankees wasted no time taking the lead as they plated four runners in the first inning for a 4-0 lead.

With runners on first and second with one out, Rodriguez stepped to the plate and belted the first pitch over the left field fence for his 500th career home run. Matsui followed with a double, moved to third on Posada's ground out and crossed the plate courtesy of Cano's triple.

Kansas City got on the scoreboard in the third inning with a pair of runs. Joey Gathright led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Jason LaRue popped out, DeJesus brought home Gathright with a single to center. Two batters later, Mark Teahen knocked a double to left to score DeJesus to make it a 4-2 game.

New York got a run back in the bottom of the third as Betemit's single to right scored Rodriguez for a 5-2 lead.

The Yankees added another run in the fourth as Matsui's RBI single scored Abreu to make it a 6-2 contest.

Kansas City, though, tied the game in the fifth. Gathright led off the frame with a walk and two batters later DeJesus deposited a ball into the right field stands. Teahen later singled and Billy Butler followed with a double to center to plate Teahen.

After Myers entered the game, Gload tied the contest with a double to the right-center gap that scored Butler.

Game Notes

DeJesus has a 13-game hitting streak...It was the fourth four-hit game of the season for Cano and eighth of his career...New York has won five of its last six and 15 of its last 18 against Kansas City...Abreu finished the game 3- for-5 with two RBI and four runs scored...Attendance was 54,056.