Yankees 8, Royals 3
Alex Rodriguez led New York's power surge with three home runs as the Yankees posted an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson added back-to-back homers in the sixth inning for the Yankees, who improved to 62-0 this season when leading after eight innings.
Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and held it until the fifth, when Brett Gardner hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a bunt single by Ramiro Pena and scored on a double-play grounder by Derek Jeter.
New York turned on the power against Sean O'Sullivan (1-4) an inning later as Rodriguez led off the frame with his 19th blast of the season. One out later, Posada launched his 13th of the year and Granderson followed with his 11th, giving the Yankees a 4-1 advantage.
The Royals got within one run in the bottom of the sixth but wasted a chance for more.
Former Yankee Wilson Betemit hit a leadoff homer and the next three batters singled, loading the bases with none out. After a flyout, Chris Getz plated a run with a groundout and Phil Hughes retired Gregor Blanco to avoid further damage.
Rodriguez gave New York some breathing room in the seventh, following Mark Teixeira's one-out single with his 20th homer for a 6-3 edge. In the ninth, Teixeira led off with a single before Rodriguez swatted his third shot of the night, giving him four hits and five RBIs.
It was the second multi-homer game of the season for Rodriguez, the first coming July 6 in Oakland. The last time Rodriguez belted three homers was on April 26, 2005 against Bartolo Colon and the Angels at the old Yankee Stadium.
Hughes (14-5) lasted six innings, allowing three runs and nine hits. The 24-year old, who had lost two of his previous three starts, walked one and did not strike out a batter.
Acquired from the Angels on July 22, O'Sullivan remains in search of his first win as a Royal after yielding four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 frames. The right-hander, who fell to 0-4 in five starts with Kansas City, walked two and struck out five.
Betemit went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Royals, who have lost six of their last seven.