NEW YORK (AP) - Alex Rodriguez has hit his 599th career home run, leaving him one shy of becoming the seventh major league player to reach 600.
The New York Yankees slugger connected in the seventh inning Thursday night on an 0-2 pitch from Kansas City Royals reliever Robinson Tejeda. The solo shot to right field cleared the fence by a few feet and put the Yankees ahead 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. It was his 16th homer of the season.
Rodriguez came up again with a chance for No. 600 in the eighth, but he hit an RBI double to right-center and was pulled for a pinch runner.
The three-time AL MVP, who turns 35 on Tuesday, is closing in on becoming the youngest player to reach the 600-homer milestone.
Before last season, he admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with Texas.
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