KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 50th and 51st home runs on Saturday night, connecting in consecutive at-bats on 3-1 counts against Royals rookie Brian Bannister.
Rodrigez homered to straightaway center in the fourth, a two-run shot estimated at 416 feet, to put the New York Yankees ahead 4-0. He connected again leading off the sixth with a liner over the left-field wall, giving him eight multihomer games this season and 52 in his career.
The second homer put New York ahead 5-2.
The 514th and 515th homers of Rodriguez's career came one day after he passed Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews for 17th on the career list, connecting off Gil Meche. Rodriguez, who has 49 career two-homer games, has eight homers in the last 10 games.
Next on the career list are Willie McCovey and Ted Williams with 521 home runs.
Rodriguez's second homer broke the major league record with 49 homers by a third baseman, one more than Mike Schmidt of the Phillies (1980) and Seattle's Adrian Beltre, who hit 48 with the Dodgers in 2004.
Rodriguez, who has hit two homers as a DH, added to his team record for homers for a right-handed batter. He has hit 26 homers at Yankee Stadium and 25 on the road.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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