• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Mussina, Yankees try to sweep Royals

Aug 5, 2007 - 3:58 PM Kansas City (48-61) at NY Yankees (60-50) 1:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Now that the hoopla of Alex Rodriguez hitting his milestone homer is over, the New York Yankees can concentrate on even bigger goals.

A day after Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach the 500-homer mark, the Yankees look to complete a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals.

Eight days after his 32nd birthday, Rodriguez reached the milestone with a three-run homer in the first inning of Saturday's 16-8 win. New York has outscored Kansas City, 23-9, in the first two games of the series.

The Yankees send veteran Mike Mussina (6-7, 4.75 ERA) to the mound. The 17-year veteran seeks his third straight win after yielding three runs and six hits in six innings of a 16-3 trouncing of the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

The righthander is 16-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 32 starts against the Royals, including 6-2 in his last 10 outings.

Kansas City, which has lost 18 of its last 19 at Yankee Stadium, counters with Gil Meche (7-8, 3.70).

Meche, who served up Rodriguez' 499th homer in a 7-1 loss to New York on July 25, dropped his second consecutive start when he allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings in a 3-1 loss at Minnesota on Monday.

The righthander is 3-3 in 10 career starts vs. New York. He allowed five runs in 7 1/3 innings in a loss when he opposed Mussina on July 25.