New York’s Alex Rodriguez passed Willie Mays for fourth on the career home-run list, connecting for No. 661 on Thursday and helping the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.
The victory extended the Yankees’ lead in the American League East to three games, while in the West, Houston went six games clear by beating their nearest rivals the Los Angeles Angels.
St Louis re-established their 6.5-game break atop the National League Central by downing the Chicago Cubs, while Yasmani Grandal had a game to remember with eight RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Milwaukee.
Photo: AP
Rodriguez’s milestone shot came in the third innings, when he hit a line drive off Chris Tillman (2-4) just to the left of Monument Park in center field to give New York a 3-2 lead.
A-Rod almost reached 661 two innings earlier, but Delmon Young reached over the top of the wall in right field, taking a catch to deny the milestone temporarily.
The slugger, who missed most of last season after a ban for a doping offense, pumped his fist as he rounded first base in the third and fans gave him a standing ovation as he was greeted warmly in the dugout by his teammates.
Houston’s Preston Tucker singled home the tying run for his first major league hit as the Astros rallied with three runs in the ninth inning to narrowly defeat the Angels 3-2.
The Astros increased their lead over the Angels to a season-best six games in the opener of a four-game series.
For the second straight night, Angels closer Huston Street (2-1) blew a lead in the ninth.
He allowed consecutive RBI singles by Jake Marisnick and Tucker, who was making his big-league debut, to tie it. After a walk loaded the bases, the Angels had a shot at an innings-ending double play, but Jose Altuve beat the relay from shortstop as Marisnick scored the go-ahead run.
St Louis pitcher John Lackey hit an RBI double to drive in a run for only the third time in his big-league career and struck out 10 in 7-2/3 innings to lead the Cardinals to a 5-1 win against the Cubs.
Lackey (2-1) allowed one run in a powerful performance as the majors-leading Cardinals made it nine wins in 10 games.
Jason Heyward singled three times and added an RBI for St Louis.
The Dodgers cruised to a 14-4 win at Milwaukee thanks chiefly to Grandal, who drove in eight runs, hit two homers and reached first base on six occasions.
Grandal’s two-run single capped a four-run sixth inning.
He hit a three-run homer into the second deck in the eighth inning and launched another three-run shot in the ninth. Grandal went 4 for 4 with two singles and two walks.
Dodgers starter Carlos Frias (3-0) gave up six hits in five innings.
In other games on Thursday, it was:
‧ Royals 7, Indians 4
‧ Tigers 4, White Sox 1
‧ Rangers 5, Rays 4
‧ Pirates 7, Reds 2
‧ Twins 6, Athletics 5
‧ Diamondbacks 11, Padres 0
‧ Marlins 7, Giants 2
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