Last week Alex Rodriguez made history against the Boston Red Sox when he tied Willie Mays on the all-time home run list with his 660th bomb. He reached another milestone against another division rival on Thursday night.
The 39-year-old slugger broke a 2-2 tie against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning of tonight's game with his 661st home run off Chris Tillman. He now sits alone in fourth place on the all-time home run list with Babe Ruth next up in his sights.
Check out the historic home run below courtesy of MLB.com:
Fans at Yankee Stadium asked for a curtain call and Rodriguez quickly came out of the dugout to acknowledge those cheering on his behalf. The milestone was portrayed on the scoreboard at the stadium.
A-Rod nearly passed Mays in the first inning, but Orioles' right fielder Delmon Young robbed the slugger of a three-run homer, which you can check out below via this Vine video.
New York and general manager Brian Cashman already acknowledged they would not be paying Rodriguez his $6 million bonus for tying Mays and they also will not pay any of the marketing bonuses thereafter. When A-Rod was asked about the situation over the weekend he said, "That's nowhere near where my energy is these days. My energy is playing the game on (Sunday). Just baseball," via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.
Rodriguez will turn 40 years old on July 27 and has a limited window to catch Ruth at 714, Hank Aaron at 755 and Barry Bonds at 762. The Yankees' DH was batting .231/.346/.495 this season with 15 runs scored, 6 home runs and 16 RBIs heading into tonight's matchup against the O's.
A-Rod and the Yankees look to extend their division lead over the Orioles over this four-game set. New York (17-11) sits in first place in the AL East and has a two-game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays.
