ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Alex Rodriguez homered twice, Jorge Posada had two hits, and the New York Yankees stopped a six-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.

With Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner in attendance, New York ended its longest skid since dropping seven in a row from April 20 to 27, 2007.

Posada doubled and singled while batting seventh as the designated hitter. It was his first start since he pulled himself out of the lineup Saturday soon after he was set to bat ninth.

"To me, it was the place to put him today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before the game. Girardi would not commit to Posada, who is hitless against lefthanded pitching this season, as the everyday DH.

Posada was roundly booed before his first at-bat in the second, when he grounded out. The Yankees fans in attendance cheered in the fifth after he singled.

Rodriguez has 621 career home runs. He recorded his first multihomer game this season and 59th overall.

It was just his second multihit game since April 23 - he had hit .171 (14 for 82) with one homer and six RBIs since then.

Elliot Johnson homered for the AL East-leading Rays (24-18), who are 11-13 at home this season. Ben Zobrist had a run-scoring double in the ninth with two outs that resulted in the Yankees' using closer Mariano Rivera to get the final out in a non-save situation.

Rodriguez tied it at 1 with a fourth-inning homer and then put the Yankees ahead with a solo shot in the sixth off James Shields (4-2).

Posada doubled and went to third on Brett Gardner's bunt single in the seventh. Posada was replaced by pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez, who scored on Chris Dickerson's single during a two-run inning that made it 4-1. Dickerson was called up from triple A earlier in the day when setup man Rafael Soriano was put on the disabled list.

The Yankees failed to score in the third with a runner on second and one out when Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson struck out. In the bottom half, Johnson homered on a 3-2 pitch from Ivan Nova (4-3) as the Rays went ahead, 1-0.

Gardner and Jeter had RBI singles in the ninth.

David Robertson replaced Nova with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth and struck out B.J. Upton and Casey Kotchman.

New York played without rightfielder Nick Swisher, who had flu symptoms.

Yankees 6, Rays 2

New York 000 101 202 – 6 12 1

Tampa Bay 001 000 001 – 2 6 1

New York AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Jeter ss 5   0   1   1   0   3   .253

Granderson cf 5   0   0   0   0   2   .270

Teixeira 1b 3   0   1   0   1   0   .254

Al.Rodriguez 3b 4   2   2   2   0   0   .250

Cano 2b 4   0   1   0   0   1   .285

Martin c 4   1   1   0   0   1   .252

Posada dh 3   0   2   0   0   0   .179

1-E.Nunez pr-dh 0   1   0   0   0   0   .304

Gardner lf 4   2   3   1   0   1   .265

Dickerson rf 3   0   1   1   0   1   .333

Totals 35   6   12   5   1   9   

Tampa Bay AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Fuld lf 4   0   0   0   0   1   .233

a-S.Rodriguez ph 0   1   0   0   1   0   .200

Zobrist 2b 3   0   1   1   2   1   .289

Damon dh 5   0   3   0   0   0   .260

Longoria 3b 4   0   0   0   0   0   .246

Joyce rf 3   0   1   0   1   2   .366

B.Upton cf 4   0   0   0   0   1   .253

Kotchman 1b 4   0   0   0   0   2   .337

E.Johnson ss 3   1   1   1   1   0   .260

Shoppach c 4   0   0   0   0   0   .159

Totals 34   2   6   2   5   7   

a-walked for Fuld in the 9th.1-ran for Posada in the 7th. E: Cano (3), Zobrist (1). LOB: New York 5, Tampa Bay 10. 2B: Posada (3), Zobrist (14). HR: Al.Rodriguez 2 (8), off Shields 2; E.Johnson (2), off Nova. RBIs: Jeter (12), Al.Rodriguez 2 (24), Gardner (9), Dickerson (1), Zobrist (28), E.Johnson (4). SB: E.Johnson (3). S: E.Nunez, Dickerson. RLSP: New York 1 (Granderson); Tampa Bay 5 (Longoria, Kotchman 2, Damon 2). RA: Dickerson, Longoria. GIDP: Al.Rodriguez, Martin. DP: Tampa Bay 2 (Longoria, Zobrist, Kotchman), (C.Ramos, Zobrist, Kotchman).

New York IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Nova (W 4-3) 51/3   4   1   1   2   4   100   4.33

Robertson (H 8) 11/3   0   0   0   2   3   27   1.62

Chambrln (H9) 11/3   1   0   0   0   0   18   3.80

Sanit 2/3   1   1   1   1   0   21   6.75

Ma.Rivera 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   6   1.42

Tampa Bay IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Shields (L 4-2) 7   8   4   3   1   9   102   2.26

C.Ramos 1   1   0   0   0   0   5   4.15

B.Gomes 1   3   2   2   0   0   18   3.38

IR-S: Robertson 3-0, Chamberlain 2-0, Ma.Rivera 1-0. IBB: off Nova (Joyce). Umpires: Home, Gary Darling; first, David Rackley; second, Paul Emmel; third, Rob Drake.

T: 3:10. A: 27,123 (34,078).

White Sox 4, Rangers 3

CHICAGO - Gordon Beckham scampered home on Cody Eppley's wild pitch in the eighth inning, lifting Chicago to a sorely needed victory over Texas.

Beckham began the inning with a walk and made it all the way to third base on pinch-hitter Dallas McPherson's single to center. McPherson, who was promoted when Mark Teahen went on the disabled list earlier in the day, picked up his first hit since Sept. 10, 2008, for Florida against the Phillies.

Eppley (1-1) then bounced his first pitch to Alexei Ramirez, and Beckham rushed home to give Chicago a 4-3 lead.

Jesse Crain (1-1) pitched 12/3 scoreless innings to get the win, and Sergio Santos worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six chances.

Endy Chavez had two hits and reached base four times for Texas, which has dropped eight of its last 11 road games.

Texas 110 100 000 – 3 5 0

Chicago 000 030 01x – 4 4 1

Texas AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

En.Chavez rf 4   1   2   0   1   1   .278

Andrus ss 5   0   1   0   0   0   .269

Kinsler 2b 4   0   0   0   0   0   .244

Mi.Young 1b 3   0   1   0   1   1   .343

A.Beltre 3b 4   0   0   0   0   0   .252

Dav.Murphy lf 2   1   0   0   2   1   .256

Napoli dh 3   1   1   0   1   0   .205

Torrealba c 2   0   0   1   1   0   .216

Gentry cf 2   0   0   0   1   0   .167

b-Moreland ph 1   0   0   0   0   0   .287

Totals 30   3   5   1   7   3   

Chicago AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Lillibridge lf 3   0   1   0   0   2   .286

a-McPherson ph 1   0   1   0   0   0   1.000

1-Pierre pr-lf 0   0   0   0   0   0   .242

Al.Ramirez ss 3   0   0   0   1   0   .263

A.Dunn dh 4   0   0   0   0   1   .197

Konerko 1b 4   0   0   0   0   1   .312

Quentin rf 1   0   0   0   2   0   .250

Pierzynski c 2   1   0   0   1   1   .252

Rios cf 2   1   1   0   1   0   .201

Beckham 2b 2   1   0   0   1   2   .214

Morel 3b 3   1   1   3   0   1   .229

Totals 25   4   4   3   6   8   

a-singled for Lillibridge in the 8th. b-grounded out for Gentry in the 9th.1-ran for McPherson in the 8th. E: Al.Ramirez (6). LOB: Texas 8, Chicago 3. 2B: En.Chavez (2). HR: Morel (1), off Harrison. RBIs: Torrealba (8), Morel 3 (11). CS: Rios (3). SF: Torrealba. RLSP: Texas 4 (Andrus 2, A.Beltre, Torrealba); Chicago 2 (Rios, Konerko). RA: Kinsler, A.Beltre. GIDP: Kinsler, Al.Ramirez, Rios. DP: Texas 2 (A.Beltre, Kinsler, Mi.Young), (Andrus, Kinsler, Mi.Young); Chicago 2 (Al.Ramirez, Beckham, Konerko), (Danks, Konerko).

Texas IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Harrison 7   3   3   3   4   6   108   4.27

Eppley (L 1-1) 1/3   1   1   1   2   1   17   8.00

Rhodes 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   7   4.22

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Danks 61/3   4   3   2   6   2   113   4.32

Crain (W 1-1) 12/3   1   0   0   1   0   20   2.66

S.Santos (S 6-6) 1   0   0   0   0   1   12   0.00

IR-S: Rhodes 2-0, Crain 1-0. IBB: off Crain (Dav.Murphy), off Danks (Mi.Young). WP: Eppley. Umpires: Home, Jeff Kellogg; first, Eric Cooper; second, Mark Carlson; third, Tim Timmons.

T: 2:36. A: 22,437 (40,615).

Indians 7, Royals 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera homered, and Travis Hafner hit a bases-loaded double, powering Cleveland past Kansas City for a two-game sweep of the Royals.

One night after the Indians romped, 19-1, and tied the record for KC's biggest losing margin, Hafner unloaded his three-run double in the first inning off Sean O'Sullivan.

Santana hit a solo home run off O'Sullivan in the fifth, and Cabrera made it 7-2 with a leadoff home run in the seventh off lefthander Everett Teaford, who made his major-league debut.

Carlos Carrasco (2-2) went 51/3 innings for the victory, Cleveland's fifth straight over the Royals.

It was the third straight win for the revitalized, first-place Indians and took them to 26-13, the best winning percentage in the majors. At this point a year ago, they were 15-24.

Cleveland 300 120 100 – 7 10 0

Kansas City 010 001 001 – 3 7 0

Cleveland AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Brantley cf 4   1   1   1   0   1   .302

A.Cabrera ss 4   1   1   1   0   0   .288

Choo rf 3   1   1   0   1   1   .230

C.Santana c 3   2   2   1   1   0   .233

Hafner dh 4   1   2   3   0   0   .345

O.Cabrera 2b 4   1   1   0   0   0   .286

T.Buck lf 4   0   1   1   0   1   .282

LaPorta 1b 3   0   0   0   1   1   .267

Hannahan 3b 4   0   1   0   0   0   .246

Totals 33   7   10   7   3   4   

Kansas City AB   R   H   BI   BB   SO   Avg.   

Aviles 2b 4   0   0   0   1   1   .235

Me.Cabrera cf 4   0   2   1   1   0   .275

Gordon lf 4   0   0   0   1   3   .284

Butler dh 3   0   0   0   1   0   .285

Francoeur rf 4   1   1   0   0   1   .290

Hosmer 1b 4   1   2   1   0   0   .270

Betemit 3b 3   0   0   0   1   1   .309

Treanor c 3   1   1   1   1   0   .243

A.Escobar ss 3   0   1   0   1   2   .219

Totals 32   3   7   3   7   8   

LOB: Cleveland 5, Kansas City 9. 2B: Brantley (7), Hafner 2 (8), Francoeur (13). 3B: Hosmer (1). HR: C.Santana (6), off O'Sullivan; A.Cabrera (7), off Teaford. RBIs: Brantley (19), A.Cabrera (27), C.Santana (19), Hafner 3 (22), T.Buck (4), Me.Cabrera (26), Hosmer (6), Treanor (7). SB: Me.Cabrera (5). CS: Hosmer (1). S: A.Cabrera. SF: Brantley. RLSP: Cleveland 3 (T.Buck, A.Cabrera, O.Cabrera); Kansas City 4 (Butler, Gordon 3). GIDP: O.Cabrera. DP: Kansas City 1 (Aviles, A.Escobar, Hosmer).

Cleveland IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Carrasco(W2-2) 51/3   5   2   2   2   5   97   5.03

R.Perez 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   7   1.20

J.Smith 1/3   0   0   0   2   0   14   2.89

Sipp 12/3   0   0   0   1   1   24   1.37

C.Perez 1   1   1   1   2   1   28   3.18

Kansas City IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

O'Sullivan (L 2-3) 5   8   6   6   2   2   97   4.65

Teaford 11/3   2   1   1   1   0   22   6.75

L.Coleman 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   2   1.64

Bl.Wood 1   0   0   0   0   0   12   3.31

Crow 1   0   0   0   0   2   14   0.89

IR-S: R.Perez 1-1, Sipp 2-0, L.Coleman 2-0. HBP: by O'Sullivan (Choo). Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione; first, Mike Winters; second, Mike Muchlinski; third, Mark Wegner.

T: 3:02. A: 17,712 (37,903).