 With his 7th-inning home run (16) last night, Alex Rodriguez is now one away from career HR #600. (Photo by Bill Menzel) YANKEE STADIUM -- Last night the Yankees got a gutsy outing from ace C.C. Sabathia (W, 13-3), home runs from Derek Jeter (9) and Alex Rodriguez (16), a scoreless effort from the bullpen and a 4-run, eighth-inning rally that blew the game wide open en route to handing Kansas City (41-54) a royal, 10-4 beating.
Jeter's third-inning homer was of the exciting, inside-the-park variety, while Rodriguez hit one of his vintage, opposite-field drives in the seventh that upped his career total in home runs to 599.
The contrast between how he felt in 2007, when he was sitting on 499 homers, said Rodriguez, compared to pursuing number 600, is "like night and day."
"I'm having fun with it; back then I was pressing a little bit," said Rodriguez, who cited his personal growth and winning a championship last year as the primary reasons for his new outlook. "I'm at a much better place now ... a much different place. I'm looking at it from a different perspective, and I have much more of a respect for it now.
"I'm gonna hit it," he added, "and hopefully when I hit it, it's for a win like tonight."
Before erupting for 10 runs and 14 hits, the Yankee offense had to fight an uphill battle, which started when Sabathia (6.1 IP, 11H, 4R, 3 ER, 9 SO) gave up 2 runs in the first inning.
Royals DH Jose Guillen put K.C. up 1-0 with an RBI double to left, and Wilson Betemit, with men on second and third, drove in Bill Butler from third with a hard-hit grounder past a diving Alex Rodriguez. On the play, left fielder Brett Gardner's throw to second beat Betemit, who was tagged out by Robinson Cano, before the trail runner, Guillen, could score from second.
Garder's alert play kept the deficit at 2 runs, which the Yankees (60-34) erased in their half of the inning on Alex Rodriguez's 2-run, ground-rule double to right off K.C. starter Bruce Chen (L, 5-4) (6.0 IP, 9H, 5R, 6 SO, 1 HR).
In the second, the Royals recaptured the lead, 3-2, on Scott Podsednik's RBI single up the middle.
When Bruce Chen unleashed his first pitch of the bottom of the third, Derek Jeter drove the ball to the wall in right-center, with which de Jesus collided attempting to make the catch. The collision forced the ball loose, and as it rolled away along the warning track, it was clear that Jeter, rounding second in that instance, had made up his mind.
As the relay throw came in to home, Jeter was already sliding across the plate. It was El Capitan's first inside-the-park home run since August 2nd, 1996, off then Royals pitcher Jeff Montgomery.  The last time Derek Jeter hit an inside-the-park HR, then President Clinton was campaigning for a 2nd term. (Photo by Bill Menzel)
"When I hit it, I hit it well; then I saw [de Jesus] timing his jump," said Jeter. "He made a great play on the ball, but fortunately for us, the ball came back out."
De Jesus was injured on the play and replaced by Rick Ankiel. He was later found to have a sprained right thumb.
New York took a 5-3 lead when Posada hit an RBI double to left, moved to third on Chen's wild pitch and scored on Marcus Thames' sac fly to left.
With Yuniesky Betancourt at the plate and Willie Bloomquist on third base in the sixth, Sabathia threw a nasty breaking ball low and away, which the Royals' shortstop swung at for a 3rd strike; the ball skipped away from Posada, who quickly grabbed it and made a throw to third, where Bloomquist had strayed off.
Posada's throw went wide right of Alex Rodriguez and ended up by the left field tarp, allowing Bloomquist to score and Betancourt to reach second. The run was unearned due to Posada's throwing error (4), and Sabathia was charged with a wild pitch (7).
After walking Guillen and Betemit with 1 out in the seventh, Sabathia's pitch count was at 120, and Joe Girardi summoned reliever David Robertson from the bullpen, hoping he could get the Yanks out of a cliffhanger for the 3rd time in less than a week.
Robertson quickly got ahead of MIke Aviles, 1-2, and Aviles fouled off 3 straight pitches before Robertson got him to hit a soft popup to Mark Teixeira for the 2nd out. Robertson then struck Bloomquist out with a breaking pitch in the dirt for the 3rd out.
Once again, Robertson delivered in a big spot. David Robertson has strikeout stuff, and it's no wonder why Joe Girardi keeps calling his number every time the Yanks are in a pinch. (AP) "I'd keep bringing me in, too," Robertson told Latino Sports of being relied upon in tough situations. "You got to go with who's hot. If I can get ahead of a guy [in the count], I'm going to try to put him away."
Alex Rodriguez's homer to right in the bottom of the seventh off K.C. reliever Robinson Tejada gave New York some breathing room at 7-5.
Joba Chamberlain entered the game in the eighth to a mixed reaction, which, compared to Wednesday's cynical reception, was an upgrade. After two infield singles, the Royals loaded the bases on Chamberlain when Billy Butler drew a hard-fought walk.
Chamberlain, though, would retire Jose Guillen on a 6-4 groundout to end the threat.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankee offense blew the game wide open.
Swisher hit a 2-run double off reliever Blake Wood to make it 8-4, and Teixeira singled Swisher in to make it 9-5. This sent the 47,484 fans on hand into a frenzy - not merely because of the scoring, but because Alex Rodriguez would get one last shot at 600.
Rodriguez, hitting with a 3-2 count, lined a shot to right-center that fell in for an RBI double, marking the start of a precipitous exodus by the near-capacity crowd hoping to witness a historic moment that'll have to wait. Rodriguez will have at least 3 more opportunities tonight against Royals starter Brian Bannister (7-8, 5.65 ERA), who'll take the mound against A.J. Burnett (7-8, 4.99 ERA) in game 2 of the 4-game set.
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