Rodriguez smacks 496th homer in Yankees victory

NEW YORK: Alex Rodriguez hit his 496th career home run and Andy Phillips delivered a tie-breaking single as the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 on Monday.

The victory was the fourth in five games for the Yankees, who trail the Boston Red Sox by nine games in the American League East.

"Every win is big for us," Rodriguez told reporters. "There's just no room for relaxation."

He gave New York a 4-2 lead with his two-run shot in the third inning. The homer was his Major League-leading 32nd of the year.

Toronto rebounded to tie the score with home runs by Troy Glaus and Alex Rios in the fifth and sixth innings before Phillips had his game-winning single.

It was the second consecutive game in which Phillips delivered the tie-breaking hit.

"It's a lot of joy to see what he's doing," teammate Jorge Posada told reporters. "He's come out here and getting a chance to play, and he's doing everything we ask for."

Phillips is hitting .304 since being recalled from the minor leagues in June.

"It's been a fun month for me," Phillips told reporters. "Certainly it makes it a lot of fun when you play well and help the team win."

The fifth-inning homer was Glaus' second of the night for Toronto. His two-run blast tied the score at 2-2 in the third.

Second-inning home runs by Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano gave the Yankees their early 2-0 lead.

Griffey passes Robinson

In Atlanta, the Cincinnati Reds eased to a 10-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday, the victory built on the back of Ken Griffey Jr's 587th career home run and four hits from winning pitcher Bobby Livingston.

Griffey's homer, a three-run shot in the second inning, gave him sole possession of sixth-place on the all-time list as he moved ahead of Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson.

"He's a guy that I've known since I was little," Griffey told reporters. "You just can't say enough for what he's done on the field and off the field for the game of baseball."

Griffey is now 15 homers behind fifth-placed Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers on the all-time list.

The homer, his 24th of the season, gave the Reds a 5-0 lead.

Livingston, who was called up from the minor leagues before the game, was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. All the hits were singles and the third one drove in the Reds's sixth run.

"The first three starts I've had in the bigs (Major League), Griffey homered in all of them," Livingston told reporters.

"That's something to tell the grandkids. I don't know if I'm good luck that I'm here and he does that. As long as he can do that every five days, I'm happy."

Agencies

(China Daily 07/18/2007 page24)