Andy Pettitte picked up his first victory and Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera each homered and drove in two runs, helping the New York Yankees defeat the Kansas City Royals 6-1 Thursday night and avoid a series sweep. Jorge Posada also homered for the Yankees. Pettitte held the Royals to one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez increased his career RBI total to 1,510, moving him one ahead of Mickey Mantle and into 45th place on the all-time list. Jose Guillen's two-out double in the first scored Mark Teahen for the Royals' only run. The Yankees, who were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series, went 2-for-8 on Thursday night. (More baseball stories.)