NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run home run to break Lou Gehrig's American League record for RBI, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Wednesday to finish a three-game sweep.
Michael Pineda (6-2) rebounded from consecutive losses and Brian McCann homered for the Yankees, who outscored the AL champions 23-4 in their first home sweep of at least three games against Kansas City since August 2007.
Coming into the series, New York had lost six in a row and 10 of 11.
Chris Young (4-1) gave up both Yankees home runs, and the slumping Royals have dropped four consecutive for the first time since Aug. 28-31. They've managed only five runs during the slide.
Brett Gardner doubled to start the third, Chase Headley walked and Rodriguez pulled a line drive into the left-field corner that cleared the fence near the 318-foot sign.
With his 665th home run, the three-time MVP increased his career total to 1,995 RBI. The Yankees said that's two more than Gehrig gets credit for from the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's official statistician.
Records get tricky when it comes to runs batted in, partly because RBI did not become an official stat until 1920. So while baseball-reference.com lists Gehrig with 1,995 RBI and Babe Ruth with 2,214, Elias puts Rodriguez ahead of both of them and behind only Barry Bonds (1,996) and Hank Aaron (2,297).
Rodriguez's 11th home run of the season plus a single in the seventh left him 19 hits shy of 3,000.
MARINERS 3, RAYS 0 Felix Hernandez pitched a four-hitter to become the major's first eight-game winner, Nelson Cruz hit his AL-best 18th home run to snap a scoreless tie in the ninth inning and visiting Seattle completed a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay. Hernandez (8-1) got four double plays in his second shutout this season. He struck out eight and walked one in his first victory at Tropicana Field after going 0-2 in four previous starts. Seattle (23-23) reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 12.
INDIANS 12, RANGERS 3 Carlos Santana capped and eight-run third inning with a three-run home run, leading host Cleveland past Texas. Carlos Carrasco (6-4) allowed only Robinson Chirinos' home run in the fifth while pitching eight sharp innings. The right-hander held Texas to five hits and struck out eight. Texas starter Colby Lewis (4-3) allowed 10 runs and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings.
WHITE SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 3 Adam LaRoche singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and visiting Chicago beat Toronto to avoid a three-game sweep. Jose Abreu had three hits with two RBI and scored the winning run as Chicago won for the second time in nine games.
TWINS 6, RED SOX 4 Aaron Hicks homered for the first time in more than a year and host Minnesota extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over Boston. Eddie Rosario also homered for Minnesota, which has won nine of 11. The Twins swept Boston for the first time since June 13-15, 2006. Dustin Pedroia homered twice for the Red Sox.
TIGERS 3, ATHLETICS 2 Yoenis Cespedes homered with two outs in the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie against his former team and six Detroit pitchers combined on an six-hitter to lead the Tigers to a victory over host Oakland.
ORIOLES 5, ASTROS 4 Chris Davis hit two home runs, including a go-ahead solo shot in the eighth inning, to lead host Baltimore over Houston. Jimmy Paredes had two hits and stole home for the Orioles, who took the three-game series after winning 4-3 on Monday. Steve Pearce hit his sixth home run for Baltimore.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 6, REDS 4 Nolan Arenado hit his 10th home run of the season, Kyle Kendrick pitched into the eighth inning for his first victory since since opening day and visiting Colorado beat Cincinnati. Arenado hit a three-run home run in the first inning off Mike Leake and added a single, helping Kendrick (2-6). Kendrick gave up five hits in 7 1/3 innings.
PIRATES 5, MARLINS 2 Jung Ho Kang capped a late rally with a two-run single and Pittsburgh ran its winning streak to six games with a victory over Miami. The Pirates won for the first time this season when training after six innings. Pittsburgh scored five times with two outs in the seventh inning to extend its longest winning streak since 2013 when it won nine in a row.
METS 7, PHILLIES 0 Noah Syndergaard pitched six-hit ball into the eighth inning and connected for his first major league home run, Lucas Duda homered twice and host New York beat Philadelphia to complete a three-game sweep.
GIANTS 3, BREWERS 1 Ryan Vogelsong allowed one run in six innings to win his third consecutive start, Joe Panik hit a two-run home run and visiting San Francisco swept Milwaukee in a three-game series.
CARDINALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Jason Heyward atoned for a critical error with a game-tying home run leading off the ninth inning and host St. Louis scored the winning run on catcher Jordan Pachecho’s throwing error, completing a three-game sweep with a victory over Arizona. Mark Trumbo homered for Arizona, which has lost nine of its last 10 against the Cardinals. Pacheco replaced Tuffy Gosewisch, who jammed his left knee on a groundout in the sixth. Third baseman Yasmany Tomas threw home for a force out on Jhonny Peralta’s grounder against Brad Ziegler (0-1) and Pachecho tried for a double play but threw well above first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s head.
NATIONALS 3, CUBS 0 Bryce Harper hit his 18th home run, Max Scherzer struck out a season-high 13 to outduel Jon Lester and visiting Washington beat Chicago.
Sports on 05/28/2015