09/09/2007 2:50 PM ET KANSAS CITY -- Alex Rodriguez hit his 52nd homer of the season and his seventh in his last five games with a two-run shot off Zack Greinke in the first inning on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. The homer, the 515th of Rodriguez's career, came on a 2-1 pitch from Greinke. It traveled 390 feet and gave Rodriguez his fourth homer of the three-game series against the Royals. A-Rod has driven in a Major League-leading 140 runs and is posting his best year in his four seasons in New York. "The difference, as far as I am concerned with Alex, is how much fun he has playing the game, during the game," manager Joe Torre said before Sunday's game. "This is a little bit of a difference from last year, where he just seemed to be internalizing a lot. He just seems to be a lot freer." Sunday's homer gave the Yankees an early 2-0 lead and marked the first runs that Greinke had allowed in 12 innings since rejoining the Royals' rotation. The five straight games with a homer tied a career high for Rodriguez, who had homered in five straight games twice previously in his career. The homer also helped Rodriguez become the fifth player in Yankees history since 1939 to drive in at least 140 runs in a single season. Lou Gehrig set the team record for RBIs in a season with 184 in 1921. Rodriguez's two-homer game on Saturday helped him reach 50 homers for the third time in his career. He became the fourth Yankee to reach the milestone, joining Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. A-Rod has now hit 50 homers in three seasons, having belted 57 in 2002 and 52 in 2001, and he became the fourth player in Major League history to have more than two seasons of 50 homers apiece. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other players are Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Ruth. Each of those players hit 50 or more in four seasons. Rodriguez is also the fourth player in Major League history to post at least two seasons of 50 homers and 130 RBIs. According to Elias, the only other players are Ruth, Sosa and Jimmie Foxx. --

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