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Rodriguez blasts homer No. 500 as Yankees pound Royals

Aug 4, 2007 - 11:05 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez reached a long-awaited milestone and finally joined in on the New York Yankees' fun.

Rodriguez belted his 500th career home run in the first inning, ending a 10-day homerless drought and propelling the red-hot Yankees to a 16-8 triumph over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Eight days after celebrating his 32nd birthday, Rodriguez blasted the historic homer - his 36th of the season - off Kyle Davies to surpass Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach the 500-homer plateau.

"When I was 24, I never thought about hitting 500," said Rodriguez, who deflected a question regarding his ultimate pursuit of the all-time homer record. "I'm not going to think about a final destination number."

Rodriguez also became the 22nd player to reach the mark and the second this season, joining Toronto Blue Jays slugger Frank Thomas.

A two-time American League MVP, Rodriguez had gone 28 at-bats since hitting his 499th homer off Royals righthander Gil Meche on July 25. The superstar also was mired in a career-worst 0-for-22 slump before lining a single in the second inning of Thursday's 13-9 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

"It was a great moment," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "You felt it was coming because right now, he's as relaxed as he's ever been."

After Johnny Damon led off Saturday's opening frame with a groundout, Derek Jeter lined a single off Davies and Bobby Abreu followed with a walk.

That set the stage for Rodriguez, who crushed Davies' first-pitch fastball into the stands near the left-field foul pole to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

"I tried to get a double-play ball with it," Davies said. "I threw a sinker down and in, but the ball came back over the middle."

Uncertain whether the ball would hook foul, Rodriguez waited in the batters' box before the capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium erupted as the ball reached the seats. The All-Star third baseman trotted down the first-base line with his hands raised in celebration and was greeted at home plate by his teammates.

"I thought when I hit it initially, with the path of my swing lately, that it would hook foul," Rodriguez said. "To have my teammates waiting at home plate, like back in high school, was awesome.

"It was pretty cool. The energy of the fans, too - they mean a lot to the success of this ballclub."

In blasting the homer, Rodriguez joined in on the Yankees' recent power binge. New York has scored 66 runs in its last six games, crushing 18 homers over that stretch.

Rodriguez finished with three hits and three runs scored for the Yankees, who have won 22 of their last 31 games. New York (60-50) entered just 2 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers (61-47) in the American League wild card race.

Rodriguez made even more history with his three runs scored, his 99th, 100th and 101st of the season. By eclipsing the 100-run mark, he became the first player ever to hit 35 homers, drive in 100 runs and score 100 runs in 10 consecutive seasons.

Rodriguez also flashed his speed in the third inning, when he stole second after drawing a leadoff walk. Wilson Betemit singled four batters later to plate Rodriguez and push the lead to 5-2.

New York tacked on another run in the fourth, but Kansas City rallied for four runs in the fifth to forge a 6-6 tie.

David DeJesus blasted a two-run homer off Yankees phenom Phil Hughes to halve the deficit and Billy Butler lined an RBI double later in the frame to chase the rookie righthander and draw the Royals within 6-5.

Ross Gload ripped an RBI double to tie the game at 6-6, but the Yankees took the lead for good on an unusual play in the bottom of the frame.

Robinson Cano led off with a single against lefthander John Bale (0-1) and advanced to third on Betemit's hit. Melky Cabrera tapped the next pitch to third baseman Alex Gordon, who fired to second baseman Mark Grudzielanek for the forceout.

But Betemit went in hard at second and took out Grudzielanek, allowing Cano to scamper home with the go-ahead run.

New York added four runs in the sixth to take control. Abreu led off with a homer, Betemit laced a two-run single and Cabrera capped the outburst with an RBI double.

Cano matched a season high with four hits while Jeter, Abreu, Betemit and Hideki Matsui eached chipped in three hits for New York, which improved to 17-7 since the All-Star break.

Just about the only sour note to the Yankees' victory was the performance of Hughes, who was activated from the 60-day disabled list prior to the game.

New York's top pitching prospect, Hughes had been sidelined since May 1, when he suffered a strained left hamstring during a game against the Texas Rangers.

Hughes struggled through a long rehabilitation stint over the last three months, a process which was delayed further when the 21-year-old sprained his left ankle on May 25.

Despite being staked to a big lead Saturday, the fireballing righthander did not factor in the decision, allowing six runs and seven hits in just 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five, throwing 63 of 92 pitches for strikes.

"The emotional side of the game caught up to (Hughes) here today," Torre said. "Having 54,000 people in the stands and not having pitched in awhile."

Mike Myers (3-0) yielded Gload's game-tying double in the fifth but recorded the final out of the frame to notch the win. It was the 865th career appearance for Myers, who passed Hall of Famer Phil Niekro for 23rd on the all-time list.

Davies was awful in his Royals debut, yielding five runs and six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in three innings. The righthander was acquired Tuesday in the deal which sent closer Octavio Dotel to the Atlanta Braves.

"Davies is a kid whose got pretty good stuff, but he threw a lot of pitches today," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "The Yankees make you throw a lot of pitches though. I'm looking forward to seeing him throw again in a few days."

Gload and Mark Teahen each had three hits for Kansas City, which fell to 1-4 on its six-game road trip.