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Rodriguez looks for 500th homer as Yankees host White Sox

Jul 31, 2007 - 2:26 PM Chi White Sox (48-57) at NY Yankees (56-49) 7:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) - Pressing for his 500th career home run, Alex Rodriguez hopes a trip home will do the trick.

Rodriguez and the New York Yankees open a three-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.

After belting his 499th homer at the Kansas City Royals last Wednesday, Rodriguez has struggled since, going 0-for-11 in his next four games, including the finale against the Royals and three contests against the Baltimore Orioles at hitter-friendly Camden Yards.

He also went 0-for-1 in the completion of a suspended game against Baltimore from June 28.

The slugger, who struggled last season, has put up remarkable numbers this campaign, but has looked out of sync recently - perhaps becoming preoccupied with his impending milestone.

The All-Star third baseman should be happy to return home for six games, where he is hitting .288 with 20 homers and 64 RBI in 51 contests this season.

He will look to support Mike Mussina (5-7, 4.77 ERA), who picked up the win when Rodriguez blasted his last homer on Wednesday. The righthander allowed just one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-1 victory over the Royals.

Struggling for much of the season, Mussina will look for wins in back-to-back starts for the first time since May 3 and May 9.

He will be opposed by former Yankee Jose Contreras (5-13, 6.22), who is 2-3 with a 2.50 ERA in five starts against his former club in his career.

The struggling righthander has yielded 19 runs and 22 hits, while walking six and striking out five, in his last 12 frames - spanning two starts.