"It was a very special day for me, especially if you do it in a win that we needed most desperately," Rodriguez said after the Yankees won for just the second time in 11 games.

Manager Joe Torre went to drastic measures to snap his slumping team out of its latest funk, canceling batting practice, juggling his lineup — sitting Hideki Matsui for the first eight innings — and even getting ejected for arguing.

It worked.

A team that had hit .195 overall and .140 with runners in scoring position while losing seven of its first eight games on a season-long 12-game road trip, collected 16 hits and scored its most runs in two weeks.

Mike Mussina (6-4) was the beneficiary of the offensive breakthrough led by Rodriguez, who homered twice, went 4 for 4 and drove in four runs — his first RBIs of the trip.

Rodriguez's two-run shot off left-hander Chris Capuano in the first inning was his 399th, and his solo shot off left-hander Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth made the 29-year-old third baseman the 40th player in major league history to reach 400 homers.

"That's pretty incredible," Torre said. "The shape he's in, the way he works, who knows where he's going."

Mussina gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, including Carlos Lee's 15th homer. He walked one and struck out eight.

"I think we were just hoping for a nice win," Mussina said. "It didn't have to be 12-3, but today we got some big hits. It's been a tough trip so far, but hopefully we can pull something out of this as we go to the last city of the four (St. Louis)."

Nationals 7, Athletics 2: Esteban Loaiza (2-4) went seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits for his first win in more than a month and Ryan Church, Brian Schneider and Vinny Castilla homered to help host Washington beat Oakland for its season-high sixth straight victory.

Marlins 5, Mariners 4: Dontrelle Willis (10-2) allowed four runs on 10 hits in 6á innings to become the majors' first 10-game winner and Carlos Delgado drove in five runs as host Florida beat Seattle to end a four-game losing streak.

Reds 11, Devil Rays 9: Wily Mo Pena homered twice, including a walkoff two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning, as host Cincinnati hit six homers and rallied from a 9-5 deficit with three runs in the last two innings.

Phillies 2, Rangers 0: Pat Burrell hit a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning and four pitchers combined on a five-hitter to help host Philadelphia move a season-best four games over .500 at 32-28.

Angels 8, Braves 4: Dallas McPherson matched his career high with three hits, including a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh inning, as visiting Los Angeles won two of three from Atlanta. Brendan Donnelly (4-1), who pitched two perfect innings in relief, won both games.

Pirates 6, Orioles 1: Rob Mackowiak drove in four runs, Kip Wells (5-4) gave up a run on seven hits over seven innings, and host Pittsburgh led 3-0 in the first before Baltimore starter Bruce Chen (5-4) got an out. It was Baltimore's first road series loss this season.

Cubs 2, Blue Jays 0: Sergio Mitre (1-1) allowed two hits over seven innings and added an RBI double off Roy Halladay (9-3) to help host Chicago beat Toronto Blue to avoid a three-game sweep. Halladay saw his five-game winning streak snapped after allowing seven hits and two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts.

White Sox 15, Rockies 5: Orlando Hernandez (7-1) allowed four runs on seven hits before being lifted at the start of the seventh, and Chicago had a season-high 22 hits to roll past Colorado and complete a three-game sweep at Coors Field.

Red Sox 4, Cardinals 0: David Wells (4-4) threw 94 pitches in eight innings of four-hit ball, David Ortiz homered and Jason Varitek had a two-run double in the sixth inning, helping visiting Boston avoid a three-game sweep in a rematch of last year's World Series.

Royals 4, Giants 1: Tony Graffanino tripled, drove in a run and scored twice, and Matt Diaz added two RBIs in support of Runelvys Hernandez (3-7), who gave a run on four hits over six innings to boost Kansas City. The Royals won consecutive road games for the first time since April 30-May 1 at Cleveland.

Indians 6, Padres 1: Scott Elarton (3-2) gave up a run on four hits in six innings to win a road start for the first time in more than four years — a span of 30 starts — and Aaron Boone hit two home runs to lead Cleveland over San Diego.

Dodgers 3, Tigers 1: Jeff Weaver (6-5) pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Jason Grabowski hit a two-run homer to lead host Los Angeles over Detroit. Weaver gave up a solo homer to opposing pitcher Jason Johnson (4-5) and a double to Brandon Inge in beating his former team.

Twins 10, Diamondbacks 0: Johan Santana (7-2) threw a four-hitter, Jacque Jones homered and drove in three runs, and Shannon Stewart had a solo shot and scored three runs to lead visiting Minnesota past Arizona. Santana improved to 15-0 in 17 road starts since losing at Kansas City on May 29, 2004.

NATIONAL LEAGUE