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Red-hot Rodriguez, Yankees aim for sixth straight win

Sep 11, 2007 - 2:22 PM NY Yankees (81-62) at Toronto (72-71) 7:07 pm EDT

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez has the New York Yankees streaking towards the postseason.

The Yankees aim for their sixth straight win Tuesday when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.

The leading American League MVP candidate, Rodriguez leads the majors with 52 homers, 140 RBI and 132 runs. He belted seven homers in his last five games - becoming the first Yankee to hit 50 in a season since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the fabled 1961 campaign.

It was another big performance on Sunday for Rodriguez, who homered to lead the Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals and complete a three-game sweep.

New York, which is five games behind the Boston Red Sox (87-58) in the AL East, moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers (78-66) and 5 1/2 games in front of the fading Seattle Mariners (75-67) in the wild card standings.

The Yankees will look to keep it going behind rookie Phil Hughes (2-3, 5.33 ERA), who came up with a big performance against the Mariners last Wednesday, allowing just two runs in six innings while striking out six.

However, he did not figure in the decision in the 10-2 rout. The 21-year-old has not won since August 10 at Cleveland.

The Blue Jays counter with Shaun Marcum (12-5, 3.74), who did not record a decision in a 5-4 win at Boston last Wednesday. The righthander yielded two runs and five hits while walking three and striking out two.

Toronto, which has lost three straight, suffered a 5-4 loss at Detroit on Monday.