Alex Rodriguez hit his 15th home run of the season and 598th of his career in the Yankees 9-5 win over Tampa Bay. The bullpen held the game together after Andy Pettitte left early with a left groin injury, and the offense was able to get to David Price for seven runs. That bumped Price’s ERA up to 2.84. The Yankees have six more games on this home stand to see if Alex can reach 600 at Yankee Stadium.

With the win over the Rays and the Red Sox losing, the Yankees lead is now three games over Tampa Bay and 6 1/2 over Boston. They’ve played both those teams close, with a combined 9-7 record. New York is 49-26 against every one else.