A-Rod belts 499th HR as Yankees close in on Red Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

07/26/2007 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-5 and hit his 499th career home run as New York routed Kansas City, 7-1, in the third installment of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Mike Mussina gave up just six hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings. Mussina (5-7) struck out four and walked a pair en route to his first win in his last four starts.

Melky Cabrera homered and drove in three runs and Robinson Cano was 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Yankees, who have won six in a row and 11 of 13 to climb within 6 1/2 games of the AL East-leading Red Sox. The last time New York was this close to Boston in the standings was on May 10, when the Sox led by six games.

Hideki Matsui hit his 18th home run and Andy Phillips also drove in a run.

Royals hurler Gil Meche (7-7), who had gone 4-0 in his last seven starts coming into the game, allowed nine hits and five runs over 7 1/3 innings in the loss.

Reggie Sanders knocked in the lone run for the Royals, losers of three straight and four of five. Ross Gload finished 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.

With the Yankees ahead by two, Rodriguez boosted the advantage to 5-1 in the eighth on a two-run blast -- his major-league leading 35th home run of the season -- leaving him one short of becoming the 22nd player in league history to reach 500 home runs. Matsui followed with a line-drive homer to right off Jimmy Gobble, and two batters later Cano singled then Phillips drove him in with a double.

Luis Vizcaino and Mariano Rivera recorded one shutout inning each to end the contest.

New York scored twice in the second inning. Cano singled with one out, and two batters later Cabrera lined a two-run homer to right.

The Royals did not get on the board until the sixth, when Gload doubled with two out and scored when Sanders poked a base hit to left.

It was a 3-1 game as Cabrera drove in another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to score Jorge Posada, who started the frame with a single.

Game Notes

The Yankees have outscored the Royals 25-7 in the first three games of the series...Earlier Wednesday, the Royals released Scott Elarton, one day after coming off the disabled list and allowing seven runs in 1 2/3 innings against New York in a 9-4 loss...Coming into the game, the Yanks were hitting an AL- best .321 in the month of July...New York has won 10 of the last 12 meetings dating back to the start of the 2006 season.

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