Alex Rodriguez homered on his 40th birthday, helping the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 on Monday night.
Rodriguez’s solo drive in the sixth off Matt Harrison (1-2) made him only the fourth player in major league history to homer both as a teenager and in his 40s, according to STATS, joining Ty Cobb, Rusty Staub and Gary Sheffield.
It was Rodriguez’s 24th homer this season and 678th of his career, and it came two days after he went deep three times against Minnesota, in his previous game.
Photo: AFP
New York right-hander Ivan Nova (3-3) allowed two runs in five innings.
CUBS 9, ROCKIES 8
In Chicago, Kris Bryant’s two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning lifted the Cubs to the win.
Colorado had taken an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth on a two-run drive by Carlos Gonzalez for his second homer of the game, but Bryant drove the second pitch he saw from John Axford (3-4) over the wall in left-center to snap a three-game skid for Chicago.
Rafael Soriano (1-0) got the win.
Gonzalez had four hits and four RBIs for the Rockies. The slugger is batting .459 with 10 homers and 23 RBIs in his last 15 games.
WHITE SOX 10, RED SOX 8
In Boston, Adam Eaton had three hits and two RBIs as the White Sox earned their fifth consecutive win.
Eaton had a triple, double and single to key Chicago’s 15-hit night. Matt Albers (1-0) got five outs for the win, and David Robertson pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Boston’s David Ortiz homered for the third time in two games, hitting a two-run shot after a career-best, seven-RBI night that included two three-run homers in a win on Sunday.
Mookie Betts added three hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox, who have dropped 10 of 12. Robbie Ross Jr (0-1) got the loss.
ROYALS 9, INDIANS 4
In Cleveland, Ohio, Eric Hosmer drove in four runs, while Kendrys Morales added three RBIs as the Royals opened a 10-game road trip with a victory over the spiraling Indians.
Hosmer connected for a three-run homer in the first inning off rookie Cody Anderson (2-2) as the Royals rolled to their AL-leading 60th win and improved to 15-5 in their past 20 games.
Edinson Volquez (10-5) worked into the seventh inning for Kansas City, who were to welcome newly acquired ace Johnny Cueto yesterday.
Rookie Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer and Carlos Santana had a solo shot for the Indians, who have dropped five straight.
CARDINALS 4, REDS 1
In St Louis, Kolten Wong hit a grand slam, powering Lance Lynn and the Cardinals to the victory.
Wong connected on a 3-2 fastball from rookie Raisel Iglesias (1-3) with two outs in the fourth, putting St Louis ahead 4-1. Wong’s second career grand slam easily cleared the right- field wall, landing in the home bullpen.
The Cardinals have won six of seven and lead the NL Central by 6.5 games.
Lynn (8-5) allowed five hits in seven innings, improving to 7-3 against the Reds. Trevor Rosenthal earned his 31st save in 33 chances after getting two days off.
Jay Bruce hit a sacrifice fly for the Reds, who have lost seven of 10.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Orioles 2, Braves 1
‧ Rays 5, Tigers 2
‧ Diamondbacks 4, Mariners 3
‧ Giants 4, Brewers 2
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