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Rodriguez attempts to back surging Pettitte

Jul 13, 2008 - 1:43 PM NY Yankees (50-44) at Toronto (46-48) 1:07 pm ET

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Even in what has been a trying week, Alex Rodriguez just continues his ascent past some of baseball's most legendary names.

Rodriguez and the New York Yankees eye a win in the rubber match of their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday in both teams' final game before the All-Star break.

With his 537th home run in the fourth inning of Saturday's 9-4 win over Toronto, Rodriguez moved past Mickey Mantle into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time homer list. This season alone, the soon-to-be 12-time All-Star has eclipsed Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Jimmie Foxx and Mantle in career home runs.

The latest homer was also Rodriguez's 192nd with the Yankees - tying Tino Martinez for 15th place on the franchise list - but his first in the five games since his wife filed for divorce on Monday - a stretch in which he is hitting just .190 (4-for-21).

The solo blast capped off a nine-run outburst by New York, ending an eight-game spell in which the Yankees were held to a total of 20 runs.

Rodriguez will look to improve on those numbers in support of Andy Pettitte (10-6, 3.93 ERA), who will look to repeat his best start of the year in his last time out. The lefthander, who has won seven of his last eight decisions, yielded just four hits and struck out five over eight innings in Tuesday's 5-0 triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pettitte will be opposed by A.J. Burnett (9-8, 5.23), who will be searching to end his struggles in July despite pitching on just three day's rest. The righthander, who is 1-1 with a 9.49 ERA in July, collected his third win in four starts despite giving up seven runs and seven hits over 5.1 innings in Wednesday's 9-8 victory over Baltimore.