A-Rod Homers Twice in Yankees’ Win Over Royals

Alex Rodriguez gave Will Smith a rude welcome to the major leagues Wednesday night, hitting two homers off the rookie to back another strong start for Andy Pettitte and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 8-3.

A-Rod snapped a 52 at-bat homereless drought and drove in three runs for New York. Curtis Granderson also connected off Smith and the Yankees scored three times in the fifth with help from some inept relief pitching.

Derek Jeter had three hits to tie Paul Waner for 15th with 3,152. Before the Jeter singled in the eighth, Waner had been the only player who reached a higher hits milestone than Jeter in a Yankees uniform. "Big Poison" got just one hit with New York, his final one in a career spent mostly in Pittsburgh.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)