Alex Rodriguez is one home run shy of tying Willie Mays for sixth all time. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
NEW YORK — Designated hitter Alex Rodriguez hit his 659th career home run and reached base three times Sunday night as the New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets, 6-4. Rodriguez moved to within one of Hall of Famer Willie Mays with a solo home run in the first inning off Mets starter Jon Niese (2-1). He also had a double that scored a run in the third but was not credited with an RBI since a throwing error allowed the run to score.
Rodriguez reached base on a throwing error in the fifth and his final attempt of the night at tying Mays, he flied out to left field for the final out of the seventh.
Besides Rodriguez’s double, second baseman Gregorio Petit and left fielder Brett Gardner had run-scoring doubles while left fielder Chris Young added a run-scoring single.
Right fielder Curtis Granderson hit his 29th career leadoff home run for the Mets. Second baseman Daniel Murphy had two RBI doubles and left fielder Michael Cuddyer added a run-scoring two-base hit.
Yankees right-hander Nathan Eovaldi allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Since official scoring rules dictate a starting pitcher must complete five innings for a win, Chasen Shreve (1-0) was awarded the win.
Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless eighth and Andrew Miller recorded his seventh save.
Niese allowed six runs (four runs) and eight hits in five innings. The Mets were charged with four errors.
Granderson made it 1-0 by driving a full-count fastball over the right-center field wall and the Mets took a 2-0 lead when Murphy’s double bounced off first baseman Mark Teixeira’s glove into right field.
Rodriguez hit his fifth home run with two outs in the first when he hit a 2-2 curveball to right-center field and the ball bounced off the top of the fence into the Yankees bullpen.
The Yankees scored three times in the second on doubles by Petit and Gardner and an RBI single by Young. Their fourth run came when Young scored on a throwing error by Cuddyer after he fielded Rodriguez’s double.
The Mets scored twice on consecutive two-out doubles by Cuddyer and Murphy in the third. Cuddyer easily scored on Murphy’s hit after advancing to third on a throwing error by shortstop Stephen Drew.
The Yankees capitalized on two errors and took a 6-4 lead in the fifth. After Young reached on Murphy’s fielding error, Rodriguez reached when shortstop Wilmer Flores’ throw to first sailed into the camera well next to the Yankees dugout and Gardner scored.
NOTES: The Yankees announced they will employ a six-man rotation this week, which means RHP Masahiro Tanaka will start Wednesday and not Tuesday. They intend on promoting RHP Chase Whitley to make the start Tuesday. … Mets 3B David Wright is expected to begin baseball activities consisting of fielding ground balls and jogging this week. He may return toward the end of this week from a strained right hamstring that he injured on April 15. … Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury missed the game with soreness in his hip that prompted him to leave Saturday’s loss in the eighth inning. The Yankees do not believe the injury is serious. … The Mets signed veteran INF Brooks Conrad to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas.
