CLEVELAND - Before Alex Rodriguez stole the headlines with his pursuit of his 600th home run, A.J. Burnett had drawn attention for all the wrong reasons.  Burnett put himself back in the middle of things Wednesday night, but this time it was with a dominant performance on the field. The righthander stifled the Indians in an 8-0 win, getting plenty of help from a previously frustrated lineup that took out its anger early and often against Cleveland's Fausto Carmona.  "That's the most I've felt like A.J. in a long, long time," Burnett said. "That's probably because I was able to throw a curveball for a strike."  That hook helped Burnett through 6-1/3 shutout innings, lifting his record to 9-8 while dropping his ERA to 4.52. Burnett allowed seven hits and three walks, striking out seven.  Even with the two-inning, four-run outing that led to him cutting his hands in a run-in with a clubhouse door on July 17, Burnett is 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts this month.

"We're really happy with what he's done," Joe Girardi said. "He's throwing the ball well. It was an unfortunate situation that happened, but it happens. You move on. He's done a good job of putting it behind him."  A-Rod remained stuck at 599 home runs, although he had a productive night at the plate even as his homerless drought reached 26 at-bats. Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with an RBI, contributing to the Yankees' 13-hit attack.  The bottom three hitters in the Yankees' lineup - Curtis Granderson, Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner - combined to score five runs and drive in three, and started a three-run rally in the second inning that gave Burnett a cushion to work with.  "We did a good job," Girardi said of his hitters. "I thought we did a nice job keeping the pressure on (Carmona)."  Burnett, whose last start was cut short Friday night after five innings thanks to rain, had to wait out a 45-minute rain delay before Wednesday night's game began. Once it did, he gave Girardi and the Yankees exactly what they were looking for.

As uneven as Burnett's season has been, Wednesday night's outing marked the seventh time in 21 starts that he has held the opposition scoreless. On the flip side, he's also given up six runs or more six times, leaving him cautiously optimistic about his past two starts.  "That's the best I've felt in a long time as far as me staying within myself and with my delivery," Burnett said. "But two, three or four (outings) aren't going to cut it. We need to keep a good run going and take it into my next start."  Having been limited to four runs on nine hits over the first two games of the series, the Yankees took a quick lead in the first on A-Rod's RBI single. Mark Teixeira's two-run single capped a three-run second, then the Yankees chased Carmona in the third with three more runs, taking a 7-0 lead.  Robinson Cano tacked on a solo homer in the fourth against Hector Ambriz, pushing the lead to eight. Burnett didn't need nearly that many runs as he moved through Cleveland's lineup with relative ease.  Burnett put a man on base in each inning, including the leadoff hitter in each of the first five frames, but he never let the Tribe get the hit it needed to start a big rally. Double plays in the third and sixth helped his cause, as he worked into the seventh for the first time since the All-Star break.  "It feels good," Burnett said. "We need to keep it going for a couple months and into the playoffs. Then I'll feel good about where I am."

CLEVELAND - Alex Rodriguez may be having trouble connecting on his next home run, but that hasn't been a problem lately for Curtis Granderson.  Granderson's two-run blast in the eighth inning lifted the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Indians, kicking off the Bombers' seven-game road trip on the right note. It was Granderson's third home run in two games, following up his two-homer performance on Sunday.  A-Rod's bruised left hand didn't keep him out of the lineup, but he was unable to complete his journey into the 600 club. Rodriguez went 0-for-4, extending his homerless streak to 17 at-bats. A-Rod will try again tonight, as he celebrates his 35th birthday.  Manager Joe Girardi bypassed Joba Chamberlain with a one-run lead in the eighth, using Dave Robertson and Boone Logan to get three outs after Javier Vazquez walked the leadoff hitter to put the tying run on base.  Vazquez picked up the win with seven-plus innings of two-run ball, giving up five hits and three walks, striking out five to improve to 9-7. Since May 12, Vazquez is 8-4 with a 3.10 ERA. Mariano Rivera closed out the game for his 21st save of the season.

Before the game, Girardi said he wasn't disturbed by the three-game power outage to end the Yankees' home stand, noting that A-Rod has had streaks of more three games without a home run on seven different occasions this season. Rodriguez has actually had homerless streaks of nine, 10, 11 and 15 this season, so three games wasn't going to cause any concern for his manager.  "His at-bats have been good, he just hasn't hit a home run," Girardi said. "If you allow it to become an issue, it can become an issue. This is not unusual for him to go three days without hitting a home run. As long as he's being productive and helping us win, that's my focus. He's been doing that."  Rodriguez didn't do much to help the Yankees Monday night, but while starter Jake Westbrook managed to keep A-Rod in the park, he couldn't say the same about Nick Swisher and Granderson, who both homered to lead the Yankees to their seventh win in the last nine games.  It took 28 at-bats for Rodriguez to go from 499 to 500, so his 17 at-bat stretch is still a few days away from reaching his milestone march from 2007. A-Rod has endured homerless skids of 34, 39, 46 and 59 at-bats this season, the longest coming during a 15-game stretch from April 21-May 8.

The Indians fans in the Progressive Field crowd of 27,224 didn't seem to care that A-Rod was looking to make history, satisfied with the opportunity to jeer the three-time MVP each time he strolled to the plate.  That wasn't much of a change of pace for A-Rod, who receives similar treatment in virtually every road ballpark around the majors.  "He's done so many things in a hostile environment, I'm sure it won't really faze him," Girardi said before the game. "It would be nice if he could hit it in our bullpen."  Rodriguez struck out to lead off the second inning, then lined into a controversial double play in the fourth. A-Rod's sinking liner appeared to hit the grass before settling in Trevor Crowe's glove, but third-base umpire Jerry Meals called Rodriguez out. Crowe threw to second base, where Jason Donald easily tagged out Mark Teixeira to end the inning on the bizarre 7-4 double play.  Travis Hafner gave the Tribe a lead in the second with a solo homer off Vazquez, but Nick Swisher tied it up with a solo blast of his own in the fourth, his 18th of the season.  Cleveland regained the lead in the sixth on Shin-Soo Choo's RBI double, but Granderson provided the winning runs with a two-run homer, his 10th of the season. Granderson has hit safely in six straight games, going 9-for-21 (.428) with three homers.  A-Rod, who grounded out to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera in the seventh, got one last crack at his milestone in the ninth, but he popped out to first baseman Matt LaPorta.

BRONX, NY -- The waiting is the hardest part.  Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees and a slew of fans have waited -- through a weekend, through a pair of lengthy rain delays and now, through at least one more night.  The Yankees' 12-6 victory over the Royals on Sunday included its share of surprises: Curtis Granderson and Scott Podsednik proved unlikely sources of multi-homer power, Jorge Posada was charged with an error on a play manager Joe Girardi claims he had never seen before, and the game resumed following a 2-hour 32-minute rain delay.  It was more notable, however, for the milestone home run it lacked.

For the third straight game, the fans trudged home from Yankee Stadium with that twinge of disappointment that follows a missed opportunity. It was simultaneously compounded by the knowledge that Rodriguez will, in all likelihood, hit his 600th home run during the team's seven-game road trip this week, and negated by the fact that the Bombers scored a dozen runs even with their third baseman held in the yard.  One day after Mark Teixeira hit two home runs, it was Granderson who turned the trick for the fifth time in his career. Granderson's leadoff homer in the third into the bullpen in right-center was the Yankees' first hit of the day and first off Kansas City starter Sean O'Sullivan in seven innings, dating back to his start against the Bombers on Tuesday as a member of the Angels.  O'Sullivan had retired 22 of the previous 23 Yankees he had faced before Granderson's home run, and he struggled to start a new streak. He surrendered three more runs on four more hits in the third, including a pair of RBI doubles by Derek Jeter and Rodriguez.

One inning later, Granderson took O'Sullivan deeper, launching a 2-1 pitch into the second deck in right field.  "Today was one of those days," Granderson said. "It's always good to go ahead and get things positive for yourself."  Granderson's contributions on Sunday marked the most tangible sign of a potential hot streak from the struggling center fielder. Long seeking the swing that made him an All-Star in Detroit last season, Granderson may have finally found his groove at the plate, with hits in five straight games and a .327 average in his past 13.  "Grandy looks like he's the kind of guy that really needs to play and get rhythm," manager Joe Girardi said. "He's swinging the bat good right now."  "We couldn't keep them off base, and we couldn't stop them from driving in runs," said Podsednik, who had nine hits for the Royals in the four games in the Bronx. "Their offense was pretty much the story all weekend."  Granderson's two home runs gave him nine on the season and helped provide a cushion for starter Phil Hughes, who in Girardi's terms was "better," with the implication that there was plenty of room to improve. Hughes allowed his own pair of home runs: an opposite-field, two-run shot off the foul pole in left by Podsednik in the third and a solo blast off the facing of the third deck in right by Rick Ankiel in the fourth. All 15 of the home runs Hughes has allowed this season have been at Yankee Stadium.  "For the distance that the first one lacked, that one definitely made up for it," Hughes said of Ankiel's shot.

By the time Hughes really settled in, however, the rains had arrived, interrupting the game and eventually truncating his outing. He allowed the three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking none. It was good enough for his 12th win of the season, but just his second in July.  "I could get a lot better," said Hughes, who is now 2-2 with a 6.52 ERA in the five starts since he first received extra rest to limit his innings count this season. "It'll be nice to get another one of these [starts on regular rest] and hopefully stay on track for a while."   Joba Chamberlain again labored out of the bullpen, serving up Podsednik's second two-run shot of the game to cut the Yankees' lead to 7-5 in the eighth. That was nothing, though, compared to the struggles of Kansas City's Blake Wood in the bottom of the frame. Wood let six of the seven batters he faced reach base, with five eventually coming around to score. He left to loud boos after hitting Rodriguez with a fastball on the left hand.  The Royals got one back on a bizarre play in the ninth. With a runner on third and two outs, Posada threw off his mask while blocking a Chan Ho Park delivery in the dirt. As the ball rolled slowly to a stop a few feet away, it lounged against Posada's mask. The umpires ruled it illegal use of equipment, allowing the run to score.  Both Girardi and Posada said they thought the rule stipulated that the use of the mask to stop the ball had to be intentional.  "I've seen it intentionally. I've never seen it unintentionally," Girardi said. "I asked [bench coach] Tony Pena, who's been around much longer than I have if he's ever seen it, and he said 'no.'"  It wasn't the novelty Girardi nor the 47,890 in announced attendance were there to see. They'll settle for a win, but they're waiting for something more.

BRONX, NY -- They came hoping to witness history, a 600th home run from slugger Alex Rodriguez. The 46,801 who came to see the Yankees play the Royals Friday night didn't get that, but they did go home with plenty to talk about.  They saw Jorge Posada cap a four-run first inning with a double that gave him 1,000 RBI for his career. They saw A.J. Burnett bounce back from his humiliating escapade last Saturday with five scoreless innings. They saw a thunderstorm of biblical proportions and cheered lightning that lit the sky like fireworks during an 85-minute delay. And it all came in a 7-1 Yankees victory at the Stadium that moved the Bombers a season-best 27 games over .500. The Yanks, who have won 13 of their last 16, also extended their lead over the Rays to a season-high four games.

As for Rodriguez's quest for the milestone homer? The Bombers' slugging third baseman went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. In two of his first three plate appearances, A-Rod took a prodigious cut that nearly cork-screwed him into the ground and made the park buzz. But Joe Girardi pointed to the first-inning walk as a sign that Rodriguez isn't pressing to get past 600. "I liked his approach," the manager said. "I didn't necessarily see him pressing tonight."  Burnett worked quickly and took advantage of the free-swinging Royals. He had them chasing his curveball as he allowed four hits and a walk while striking out three. He'd thrown just 58 pitches to get through five innings before the rain halted play. "He got a lot of ground-ball outs tonight and that means he had good movement," Girardi said. "He was very efficient. We'd have loved to let him go deeper in the game, but we had too long of a rain delay. ... Once you get past half an hour, 40 minutes, you start to worry."

"I begged (Girardi) for five minutes, but it was reasonable," Burnett (8-8) said. "It had been more than an hour since my last pitch. I knew the answer when I went to him."  His effort - and three strong performances in four July starts - should be good enough to change the subject from his exploits last Saturday. Burnett cut the palms of both hands on the Plexiglas lineup holder on the clubhouse door during a fit of frustration over giving up a home run. He first lied about how it happened, saying he tripped on the dugout steps, then told the truth and apologized.  "I focused on my job. When I do that, I'm good," he said. "When I let the little things bother me, I'm not."

Posada finished with two hits and two RBI. He has driven in a run in seven straight games and is 7-for-20 with two homers and seven RBI on the home stand. He is the 12th Yankee to reach the 1,000 RBI mark. "That's quite an accomplishment, especially from behind the plate where it's such a grueling position," Girardi said.  Robinson Cano's three-run double was the key drive in the first. The Yankees ran the lead to 6-0 on Brett Gardner's two-run single in the sixth and to 7-0 on Posada's RBI single in the seventh.  Chad Gaudin allowed one run over three innings, and Jonathan Albaladejo pitched the ninth. Gaudin's contribution could prove significant because the relief corps is likely to be needed Saturday, with starter Sergio Mitre on a 90-pitch limit.