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Jeter, Rodriguez reach milestones as Yankees roll

Jul 12, 2008 - 11:40 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- With the offense slumping of late, Derek Jeter did not wait long to set the tone for the New York Yankees on Saturday.

Jeter hit career home run No. 200 on the second pitch of the game and the Yankees busted out of their offensive doldrums with a 9-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Alex Rodriguez moved into 13th place on the all-time home run list, passing Mickey Mantle with the 537th of his career, and he, Jeter and rookie Brett Gardner each had three RBI for the Yankees, who had scored just four runs over their previous three games.

"We needed to play well," Jeter said. "We have an important game tomorrow, but today we swung the bats pretty good."

After Jeter led off the game with a home run, Toronto took a 4-1 lead in the bottom half of the first, with Adam Lind's three-run triple to right-center field capping the uprising.

But New York came right back in the second as Gardner hit an RBI single with the bases loaded and Jeter reached on an error by second baseman Marco Scutaro that scored a run and cut the deficit to 4-3. Two batters later, Rodriguez hit a two-out, two-run single to center to give the Yankees the lead.

"We didn't pitch well, we didn't play defense," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "We'll put it behind us and move on."

Gardner hit a two-run single in the third and Jeter followed with a run-scoring base hit of his own as the Yankees built an 8-4 lead and knocked Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch (8-6) out of the game. Litsch allowed eight runs - three earned - and seven hits in just 2 2/3 innings.

"The team got a lead after the first inning, and I gave it back," Litsch said. "It pretty well put a dagger back in us."

Rodriguez led off the fourth with his 19th homer of the season, completing the scoring.

"Mickey Mantle was such an American icon here for so many years, for so many people all over the world," Rodriguez said of his milestone blast. "I'm very blessed."

Yankees starter Darrell Rasner (5-7) benefited from the run support and snapped a three-game personal losing streak, allowing four runs - three earned - in five innings. The righthander gave up seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Four relievers combined to throw four hitless innings, securing the win.

"We didn't play a good ballgame today," Gaston said. "We'll put it behind us and see if we can win tomorrow."