NEW YORK—New York slugger Alex Rodriguez hit his 13th and 14th home runs of the season on Monday to tie the Major League record for homers in April, but it was not enough to stop the Yankees from losing.
Rodriguez homered in the second and ninth innings to equal the record set by St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols last year, but the Yankees dropped their fourth straight, losing 10-8 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"It's easy to say 'Wow' when you're winning games," Rodriguez told reporters. "(But when losing), you've got to keep fighting."
The Yankees third baseman drilled a solo shot over the left field fence in the second inning and had a two-run homer in the ninth. It was the 18th consecutive game this season in which he has hit safely.
His streak is the longest by an American League player since the Royals's George Brett hit safely in 19 games to open the 1983 season.
"Any time you get mentioned with names like George Brett and Mike Schmidt is pretty overwhelming," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez went 4-for-5 at the plate and raised his batting average to .400. He also drove in three runs to boost his Major League-leading total to 34 and also scored four times.
"What he's doing is amazing," Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon told MLB.com "The guy's on fire, and I hope he keeps it up. The whole team has rallied behind him.
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