NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs in his first three at-bats and had a career-high 10 RBIs Tuesday night in the New York Yankees' 12-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels.\nRodriguez hit the 11th grand slam of his career in the fourth inning after hitting a three-run shot in the first and a two-run homer in the third, all two-out drives off Bartolo Colon. His grand slam gave New York a 10-2 lead.\nIn the sixth inning, Rodriguez hit a run-scoring single to put him one RBI behind the AL record of 11 set by the Yankees' Tony Lazzeri in 1936. The major league record of 12 is shared by the St. Louis Cardinals' Jim Bottomley (1924) and Mark Whiten (1993).\nRodriguez, who lined to center in the eighth, became the 11th player with 10 RBIs or more in a game, the first since Boston's Nomar Garciaparra against Seattle on May 10, 1999.\nIt was the third time Rodriguez hit three home runs in a game and 38th multihomer game of his career. His previous three-homer game was on July 31, 2003, for Texas against Boston.\nThe Yankee Stadium crowd gave Rodriguez curtain calls after the last two home runs.\nWhen Rodriguez came up in the fourth, the fans stood throughout the at-bat. And when his drive on a 3-2 pitch hit off the front of the center-field bleachers, just beyond the 408-foot sign, they didn't stop cheering until A-Rod came out of the dugout several minutes later, during reliever Kevin Gregg's warmups.
SEATTLE 7, TEXAS 4\nARLINGTON, Texas -- Joel Pineiro allowed four solo homers but little else and helped the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 7-4 Tuesday night.\nDave Dellucci connected in the second inning, pulling Texas to 3-1, and Mark Teixeira and Kevin Mench homered in the fourth, cutting the Rangers' deficit to 5-3.\nPineiro (2-1) retired his next 12 batters before Alfonso Soriano homered in the eighth. He then was replaced by Ron Villone.\nPineiro gave up five hits in 7 1-3 innings, struck out five and walked one. Eddie Guardado got three outs for his sixth save in seven chances.\nAdrian Beltre homered for the Mariners, and Richie Sexson, Wilson Valdez and Raul Ibanez each had three hits. Seattle had been limited to a total of three runs during a three-game losing streak before breaking out in a 9-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.\nRyan Drese (2-2) allowed five runs, 11 hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings with five strikeouts.\nBeltre hit a two-run homer in the first, and Sexson scored from second with the third run of the inning when Mench misplayed Randy Winn's single to left for an error. Miguel Olivo added a two-run single in the third. Ibanez doubled in two runs off Doug Brocail in the ninth.
ATLANTA 4, NEW YORK METS 3\nNEW YORK -- John Smoltz finally got some run support and bullpen help, earning his first win of the season Tuesday night in the Atlanta Braves' 4-3 victory against Pedro Martinez and the New York Mets.\nSmoltz scattered seven hits over 6 2-3 innings in his fifth start since returning to Atlanta's rotation. He earned his first win as a starter since June 3, 2001, the last season he was a regular member of the Braves rotation.\nHe had 154 saves since moving to the bullpen before becoming a starting pitcher again this season as the Braves shuffled their staff.\nThe Braves barely held on after closer Dan Kolb allowed two runs in the ninth. Jose Reyes' second double of the game and pinch-hitter Mike Piazza's single pulled the Mets within 4-3, and a single by Carlos Beltran put runners on first and third and knocked Kolb out of the game. John Foster came in and got Cliff Floyd to pop out for his first career save.\nThe rematch of their classic duel 16 days ago, when Smoltz struck out 15 and Martinez pitched a two-hitter, failed to match that game's intensity, with both pitchers giving up early runs.
