"His meeting with major league officials behind him, Alex Rodriguez was encouraged with the condition of his left thumb -- and it showed last night, as he hit a home run for the first time since June 11 in the Yankees' 12-5 loss to the Orioles.

"The swelling has gone down," Rodriguez said before playing third base, hitting cleanup and going 1-for-4.

Rodriguez returned from the disabled list and knee surgery Sunday in Minneapolis. During the late innings of that game, he bruised his thumb trying to snag a Joe Mauer grounder. By Tuesday night, the thumb was too swollen for Rodriguez to play and he missed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rodriguez had not hit a home run in 94 at-bats. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that's the longest Rodriguez had gone since not homering until his 102nd big league at-bat in 1994.

He went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs in Thursday's 22-9 win over the Athletics at Yankee Stadium.

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Derek Jeter tied Mickey Mantle for the most games played in Yankees history with 2,401 -- 16th place on the all-time list.

"I take pride in doing my job," Jeter said. "Coming to do my job every day."

Does it mean more to him because it's a Yankees record and the Yankees are a historic organization?

"For me, because I'm here and this is the team I wanted to play for, it means more to me," Jeter said.

Jeter is hitting .415 (39-for-94) in August. The last time Jeter hit higher than .390 in a month was 2006, when he batted .398 in April and .412 in July.

With 3,059 hits, Jeter is one shy of tying Craig Biggio for 20th on the all-time list."